Al-Monitor:
The United States and Israel announced Sept. 18 the establishment of the first permanent US-Israeli military base in the Negev desert, in southern Israel.
Despite the long-term military cooperation between the United States and Israel, the establishment of the first US military base inside Israeli territory takes military cooperation with Israel to a whole new level, with US troops present in anticipation of any possible future offensive against Israel.
Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, the head of the Israeli army’s Aerial Defense Command, told Israeli media outlets at the inauguration of the base that this is the first base to be established in Israel with their US friends. “An American flag is flying over the US army base,” he said, adding that this step is not a direct response to any specific incident, but comes in light of the “lessons learned” in the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip and intelligence analysis of future dangers. “We have many enemies around us, near and far,” he noted.
