Mattis' Mideast trip holds promise, reality check for Israel
The US defense secretary's visit to Israel is expected to strengthen an already solid relationship while making sure both parties are on the same page.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis has spent time in a lot of Middle East “garden spots.” The former chief of the US Central Command and retired four-star general who served in Iraq knows the region well and has no illusions about the challenges it presents for US interests. But his first official visit to Israel, set for April 21, will expose him to the Middle East partner with whom the United States enjoys perhaps its closest partnership.
Under President Barack Obama, US-Israeli security cooperation reached unprecedented heights, despite the sometimes prickly relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The extensive joint training between US and Israeli military forces, counterterrorism units and missile defense operators is at its apex. Intelligence cooperation, across every discipline of collection and analysis, is more constant, more sophisticated and more mutually beneficial than ever before. Joint technology programs have led to major advances in missile defense capabilities and are countering new threats, such as is occurring with tunnel detection technology. US assistance is rising to its highest levels ever with the $38 billion memorandum of understanding signed last year, which will enable Israel to fill out two full squadrons of F-35 aircraft and continue to upgrade other capabilities.
