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As Israel fights a multi-front war against Hamas and Hezbollah militants, along with their Iranian backers in Tehran, the idea of a formal military alliance between Jerusalem and Washington is gaining some traction in U.S. policy circles.
The U.S. has mutual defense treaties with NATO, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan — along with the 1947 Rio Treaty that vows an attack on any country in the Americas is an attack on all of them.
Now, with the Jewish state fighting hot wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and with a widely expected strike against Iran possibly in the pipeline, the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America says it’s time to finally add Israel to the list.
Democratic and Republican administrations alike have called Israel America’s most important ally in the Middle East. Washington is Israel’s leading patron, including during its current struggle that began after Palestinian Hamas militants launched a rampage into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip just over a year ago.
“In light of Oct. 7, including the subsequent multi-front war that Israel has faced against Iran and its proxies, and the ups and downs experienced by the U.S.-Israel relationship, the rationale for formalizing a U.S.-Israel alliance and significantly deepening the two countries commitment to each other’s mutual security is stronger than ever,” JINSA said Thursday in a new analysis.
The violence in the Middle East shows no signs of abating. On Thursday, the United Nations accused Israeli troops of attacking U.N. military personnel operating along the border area between Lebanon and Israel. They said two peacekeepers were injured when an IDF Merkava tank fired at an observation tower at the headquarters of UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes also hit different areas of central Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said, according to the Associated Press. Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers, the AP reported.
The idea of a military alliance isn’t so farfetched: The staunchly pro-Israel think tank has been advocating for a formal pact between the U.S. and Israel since at least 2018. Last year, President Biden was reportedly considering a mutual defense treaty with Israel as part of his administration’s ongoing diplomatic push to normalize Israeli relations with Saudi Arabia.
JINSA officials warned that support for Israel in Washington has gradually eroded, from robust backing in the months immediately following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack to “mounting hesitation, public criticism, ‘bothsidesism’” and even threats to pause or cancel weapons deliveries.
Tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government serve only to embolden Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, JINSA officials said.
“The more daylight that exists between the United States and Israel, the more Iran and its proxies are emboldened to provoke, destabilize and wreak violence,” JINSA said. “Conversely, the less such daylight between the two partners, the greater chance for regional peace and stability.”
The U.S. says it has a longstanding security relationship with Israel, whether or not it is formalized as part of a defense treaty. Since its founding in 1948, the United States has provided Israel with more than $130 billion in bilateral assistance to address the country’s security challenges and help it maintain a clear military edge over any potential adversaries.
“We have an ironclad commitment to support the defense of Israel,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Defense Department spokesman, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday. “We fully support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, frequently confer with each other about the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing military operations in Gaza and southern Lebanon. One of the top issues being discussed is Israel’s expected response to Iran’s Oct. 1 decision to fire about 200 ballistic missiles at targets inside the country.
“We’re certainly talking to Israel about their ‘next steps,’” Gen. Ryder said. “We’re also looking at ways to ensure that what we’re seeing there does not escalate into a wider regional conflict.”
Defense Minister Gallant said Thursday that Israel’s response to the Iranian missile barrage will be “deadly, precise, and surprising.”
“Those who try to harm the State of Israel will pay a price,” he wrote in a post on X.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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