Report: Israel Advances U.S. National Interests

Jason Attermann — November 3, 2011 – 10:36 am | Barack Obama | Foreign Policy | Israel | Military Comments (0) Add a comment

In the Los Angeles Times, Deputy National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush Robert D. Blackwill and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy for President Bill Clinton Walter B. Slocombe published an op-ed amplifying the significance of the U.S.-Israel relationship in terms of U.S. national security interests. Blackwill and Slocombe, authors of a Washington Institute for Near East Studies report (pdf) titled “Israel: A Strategic Asset for the United   States,” detailed the extensive bilateral security relationship and the benefits for both countries’ militaries in technology and weaponry.

Blackwill and Slocombe explained:

Today, Israeli contributions to U.S. national interests cover a broad spectrum. Through joint training, exercises and exchanges on military doctrine, the United States has benefited in the areas of counter-terrorism, intelligence and experience in urban warfare. Increasingly, U.S. homeland security and military agencies are turning to Israeli technology to solve some of their most vexing technical and strategic problems.

This support includes advice and expertise on behavioral screening techniques for airport security and acquisition of an Israeli-produced tactical radar system to enhance force protection. Israel has been a world leader in the development of unmanned aerial systems, both for intelligence collection and combat, and it has shared with the U.S. military the technology, the doctrine and its experience regarding these systems. Israel is also a global pacesetter in armored vehicle protection, defense against short-range rockets, and the techniques and procedures of robotics, all of which it has shared with the United States….

In sum, we believe that Israel’s substantial contributions to U.S. interests are an underappreciated aspect of this relationship and deserve equal billing to shared values and historical responsibility as rationales for American support of Israel.

Click here to read more examples of Israel’s strategic benefits to the United   States found in the article. Click here to view their extensive report (pdf). 

As many Israeli and American leaders have repeatedly stated, the U.S.-Israel relationship has grown and strengthened under the leadership of President Barack Obama. Obama has made it clear throughout his presidency that Israel’s security is a top priority for his Administration.

Click here for a fact sheet on Obama’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.

Click here to read what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, Democratic National Committee Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Representative Howard Berman (D-CA), and others have said about Obama’s pro-Israel record.

 

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