The US army inaugurated the first permanent American military base in Israeli on Monday. The ceremony was symbolic and held jointly with high-ranking U.S. and IDF officers.
The base’s opening comes as Israel faces regional threats, especially from Iran. The Israeli military says the new station sends a message of readiness to its enemies.
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“The base is here to stay. It involved a significant allocation of resources, in the understanding, that this was right and necessary and part of the United States’ assets in Israel,” said Brig. Gen. Zvi Haimovich, the commander of the division.
The base, located inside the school of the Aerial Defense Division of the Israel Air Force, in the Negev. The American flag will be posted at the base’s entry point.
A few dozen American soldiers will live in the base. They will operate the X-Band radar system.
The powerful system can detect missile launches from a distance of few hundreds of km away. The small military unit which established in 2009 was part of U.S. efforts to improve Israel’s defensive capabilities in the face of the growing threat from Iran.
The operational collaboration between the two countries set to culminate this coming February with the “Jennifer-Cobra” joint biannual drill.
The exercise includes a multi-theater scenario in which Israel is attacked using missiles and rockets from several directions simultaneously.
Last week the Aerial Defense Division opened an additional Iron Dome anti-missile battalion. Israel deployed 10 Iron Dome batteries to intercept Hamas rockets from Gaza.
By Ynet News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
