Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was one of the first foreign leaders to visit US President Donald Trump after his election in November and his inauguration in January for a simple reason — the US and Israel have one of the strongest military to military alliances in the world.
But why?
The US supports Israel in diplomatic and military matters not because of the strength of pro-Israel lobbies like the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or out of sympathy stemming from the events of World War II, but for practical reasons.
Michael Koplow, a Middle East analyst at the Israel Policy Forum, told Business Insider that the US’s alliance with Israel owes to two key factors — intelligence sharing and ideological unity.
Israel’s intelligence and insights into Middle Eastern affairs is “unparalleled” throughout the world and “benefits the US in all sorts of ways.” For decades, intelligence analysts have regarded Israel’s Unit 8200 as one of the most elite in the world. The unit functions similarly to the US National Security Agency, and the two work closely together.
In 2010, for example, the US and Israel collaborated on one of the most-sophisticated malware systems ever created, Stuxnet, to infiltrate Iran’s cyber infrastructure and slow progress towards nuclear weapons without firing a shot. In missile defence as well, US and Israel have worked together to field some of the most effective systems around.
Unlike other US allies in NATO and the Pacific, the US has no forward-based troops in Israel, which could serve as a “port of last resorts,” should the US ever need friendly territory to stage troops or equipment, according to Koplow.
Read the full article by Alex Lockie at Business Insider Australia.