{"id":55646,"date":"2021-09-07T15:50:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T15:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/07\/why-israels-transfer-to-us-central-command-could-help-deter-iran\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:06:26","slug":"why-israels-transfer-to-us-central-command-could-help-deter-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2021\/09\/07\/why-israels-transfer-to-us-central-command-could-help-deter-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Israel\u2019s transfer to US Central Command could help deter Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. Central Command announced Sept. 1 that it has assumed responsibility for U.S. forces in Israel. This positive development reflects changes in Arab-Israeli relations and offers an opportunity<\/a> to build a more unified and militarily capable American-Israeli-Arab coalition to deter aggression from Iran and its terrorist proxies \u2014 one of CENTCOM\u2019s top priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Israel\u2019s location in the Middle East, when CENTCOM was created in 1983, responsibility for the Jewish state was assigned to U.S. European Command. That decision reflected<\/a> Israel\u2019s political isolation from its Arab neighbors. As a Pentagon news report<\/a> noted in January with a bit of understatement, Israel\u2019s regional isolation would have \u201ccomplicated\u201d efforts by CENTCOM to coordinate multilateral exercises and operations that included Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warming Arab-Israeli ties offer a major opportunity to align key partners against common regional threats. The catalyst for improved Arab-Israeli relations is the Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s longstanding effort to develop a nuclear weapons capability, as well as Tehran\u2019s determined campaign to create, cultivate and co-opt terrorist proxies across the Middle East to attack both Arab and Israeli targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\t