The Jerusalem Post
The 10th biannual Juniper Cobra exercise between the IDF and United States European Command (EUCOM) was suspended on Wednesday, as fears over coronavirus continue to rattle Israel and the world.
“In light of the Health Ministry’s instructions and a situational assessment regarding the spread of the coronavirus, and in close coordination with EUCOM, the [IDF] chief of staff and the EUCOM commander decided to halt the exercise,” the IDF said in a statement Wednesday night.
“The IDF appreciates and values the close cooperation with the US military and anticipates joint exercises in the future,” it said.
The biannual drill, one of the IDF’s largest international ones, was supposed to include 600 US troops stationed in Europe, many in Germany, landing in Israel to take part. But on Wednesday, the Health Ministry added Germany to the list of countries from which visitors to Israel must enter quarantine for 14 days.
The 10-day-long drill was scheduled to see more than 2,500 US troops participate in several different locations in Israel, Europe and the US. They were supposed to have trained alongside 1,000 Israeli air-defense troops, logistics units, medical forces and additional IDF units.
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