Joint Training Exercises

Israel, a country slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, is located in the Middle East. It borders the Mediterranean Sea for a length of 168 miles. In the south and southwest, it borders the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula. Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula during the war of June 1967 and returned it to Egypt in April 1982. To the east, it shares a 147-mile borderline with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and 189 miles with the Palestinian Autonomous Area on the western shore of the Jordan River. In the north, Israel shares 49 miles of borders with Lebanon, and with Syria for 47 miles on the disputed Golan Heights.

Proceeding from a simplistic perception of regional stability, Washington utilized the surrogate strategy to control the outcomes of regional interactions in the Middle East and chose Israel to play the role of regional surrogate. But Israel, in many cases, instead of maintaining regional stability on behalf of the US, served its own interests which were not always consistent with US interest in regional stability. The Israeli violations, however, were either condoned or even approved by the US administrations. These reactions comprised what this chapter addressed as a pro-Israel model of intervention.

Israel is a compact country located in the Middle East along the Mediterranean Sea. The country is around the size of New Jersey, with a population of around 8 million people. Referred to as the biblical holy land, the capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Which has approximately 809,000 people living there today. Israel is made up of a strong democracy with a parliamentary form of government. There is both a president and prime minister. But the prime minister overall, holds all the power of the government. (Cahill, Mary)

Israel, a country slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, is located in the Middle East. It borders the Mediterranean Sea for a length of 168 miles. In the south and southwest, it borders the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula. Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula during the war of June 1967 and returned it to Egypt in April 1982. To the east, it shares a 147-mile borderline with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and 189 miles with the Palestinian Autonomous Area on the western shore of the Jordan River. In the north, Israel shares 49 miles of borders with Lebanon, and with Syria for 47 miles on the disputed Golan Heights.

Joining US Special Operations forces in the exercise were Navy SEALS, Marine Raiders and Army Green Berets, plus highly trained military members from 15 other nations including Ireland and Jordan, many in make-up and disguises.

When analyzing US involvement in the Middle East since World War II, it is impossible to not talk about the impact Israel has had on the region. In the international community Israel is widely considered an “expansionist arm” of the United States in the Middle East. The US and Israel’s

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) was established shortly after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. The IDF fought in many conflicts since it was established; some of these are the War of Independence, the Six-Day War, and Yom Kippur War. The IDF was able to hold its own while facing invasions from multiple countries. These large amount of conflicts have made the IDF into one of the most battle tested and trained forces in the world. The United States has purchased and used some of Israel’s strategic military equipment. Some of this equipment includes the litening targeting pod, unmanned aerial vehicles, reactive armor tiles, and improved tactical air launched decoys (“U.S. Israel Strategic Cooperation”). “The Litening Targeting Pod is a navigation and targeting device that enables aircraft to fly and in bad weather and at night. The Litening transforms older planes into round-the-clock fighters. “The Litening is equipped with two cameras; one uses heat sensors to identify targets at night and during bad weather, while the second provides powerful images from long-range distances during the day. The U.S. Air National Guard, a quarter of whose fleet cannot fly at night, has the Litening to enhance the capabilities of its F-16s. The Litening is also being purchased by the U.S. Marine Corps” (“U.S. Israel Strategic Cooperation”). In Israeli society, the IDF plays a huge roll in how

"Israel was not created in order to disappear- Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom."This quote from President John F. Kennedy 's Zionists of America Convention speech can considerably show that despite the small size of the country, its culture spreads out from many different foundations that would allow Israel itself to thrive. Israel has such a great history behind it. There has been a great deal of events that have occurred in this country. A lot of the history is still standing today and is still in fact being talked about. However violence and disagreements have contribute a serious role in Israel’s short history. In just the six one years Israel has been declared a state they have fought in six wars, two civil wars, and over hundreds of disputes over the state. Yet, Israel still stands proofing that it 's people have survived against all odds, and will continue to survive. Since their culture is massive, and we all have many things to be learn from it. The culture of Israel , which includes religion, holidays, food, and influential people, is essential to their flourish throughout the world.

Despite the country’s financial prosperity, Netanyahu continues to ask for more U.S. taxpayer dollars. According to Greenwald, Netanyahu hoped to receive $5 billion USD this year. Netanyahu also openly opposed U.S. initiatives to direct Israel’s aid to American military contractors instead of Israeli ones. Greenwald puts this diplomatic faux pau into simple terms: “usually, when someone hands you billions of dollars in aid, you’re not in much of a position to demand more.” He continues that “the rules for Israel when it comes to U.S. policy, as is so often the case, are simply different.” Other journalists feed the

George W. Bush once said, “We will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of the most important friends is the State of Israel. My administration will be steadfast in support Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray.” This quote sums up our relationship with Israel very accurately. However, when discussing Israel two questions are always not far away. These questions are is this relationship beneficial to us and why do we even have this relationship with Israel? In this week’s readings, Chapter 5 of McCormick and Chapter 8 of Hook and Spanier, It discusses the aftermath and problems the United States inherited as the leading world power after the Cold War. One topic that both of these

US – Israeli relations often appear to focus on America’s ability to enforce its sphere of influence in Israel by its diplomatic and monetary utility. Since 1976, Israel has been the most exponential annual recipient of US aid and the largest recipient of cumulative US assistance since World War II. The US had provided over 95% of economic development assistance and food aid to Israel, totaling to roughly $68 million per year between the years of 1949 and 1965. From 1966 through 1970 aid increased to about $102 million to include an estimated military loan increase of 47%. From 1971 to the present, US aid to Israel has averaged over $2 billion per year; two- thirds of which has been military assistance (Sharp,2015). The

All of Israel and Israel’s allies have something in common. United States shared values with Israel are finical and military assistance, and diplomatic support. Germany is now one of Israel’s reliable allies; Germany helps Israel with railways, roads, and public buildings. India and Israel have grown in economic, military, agricultural and political levels. Israel has suffered in many ways because of the Arab countries terrorism to their country, but Israel also terrorized the Arab nations. In conclusion The Arab-Israel conflict still continues

Today, the Middle East has become more dysfunctional due to various Countries changing governments, and others becoming more chaotic. However, what most Middle Eastern countries have in common is that they don’t like Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The reelection of Benjamin Netanyahu has affected not only the Middle East, but America as well. Today, the United States is at a stand still with Israel as opposed to many years when they shared the same views of their enemies. With the current U.S. Foreign policies and the reelection of Prime Minister Netanyahu it seems that this friendship and other close allies might be dissolving. Depending what the next few months bring, it will determine whether Israel will sustain a relationship with the U.S. or will this once unbreakable friendship be pulled apart.

Israel is a very well developed country, which helps them acquire the resources needed to meet Millennium Development Goals. The country is slightly larger than the state of New Jersey. Located in the Middle East, it borders the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, and Sinai Peninsula (Middle East: Israel, 2014). Israel has been a topic of consistent power struggle regarding its borders, and over the past years, the “Gaza Strip.” The Gaza strip is a small piece of land that runs about is twenty-five miles along the Mediterranean coast and is under Hamas jurisdiction (Middle East: Israel, 2014).

From 1945 to 1990 the United States of America kept an important military deployment in Europe and Asia and in contrast they had a low military footprint in the Middle East counting relying instead on their local allies; more particularly the conservative Arab monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Persian gulf and had a close relationship with Iran until the revolution in 1979. Furthermore, Israel has always been for the United States a strategic weapon in the Middle East mostly because it kept defeating the Soviet Union’s Arab allies.