After the horror of Hamas terrorist attack on Israel last Saturday, the Biden administration moved quickly send arms to Israel and strengthening the US military posture in the area. These initial steps are laudable but not enough. With Israel preparation to launch a major ground invasion of Gaza, and with the possibility that Hezbollah could open a major new front in the north, the United States would be wise to preemptively provide Israel with additional air defenses and weapons as soon as possible to bolster these which have already been sent. or is in the pipeline for delivery.
Many Israelis compare the Hamas attack to some combination 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. It’s easy to see why in terms of the brutality and consequences of the attack. The actions of the Hamas fighters clearly surprised Israel and the tactics used during the attack were right out of the ISIS playbook, with reports of civilian executions and war crimes. As US President Joe Biden said on October 10: “This was an act of pure evil.”
Hamas’s surprise terrorist attack and subsequent attack claimed the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis. Israeli losses would equate to more than 40,000 American deaths, on a per capita basis. that is, more than 13 times what was lost on 9/11.
In response to the terrorist attack by Hamas, the United States is already providing weapons to Israel. A senior Pentagon official said on October 9 that the support “includes air defense and munitions” and that the Pentagon is “engaging with US industry to obtain expedited shipment of pending Israeli orders for military equipment.” Bloomberg mentionted on October 10 that a pending order for 1,000 small-diameter bombs had already been received by an Israeli transport aircraft and that an additional sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions conversion kits, which convert unguided bombs into precision munitions, was being expedited.
These precision munitions will help Israel precisely target terrorists while minimizing civilian casualties. Trying to avoid inadvertent Palestinian civilian casualties is a vital but admittedly difficult task for the Israel Defense Forces, given Gaza’s dense urban environment where Hamas and other terrorist groups often they use Palestinian civilians as human shields.
In addition to the weapons that Washington is sending to Israel, the US Central Command announced on Tuesday that the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group; had reached the eastern Mediterranean Sea. This reinforces other efforts to increase the US Air Force’s presence in the region, including F-15, F-16 and A-10 aircraft. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is also headed to the Middle East.
The current US goal is to prevent Iran and its largest terrorist group, Hezbollah, from opening a northern front against Israel so that the IDF can focus on operations in Gaza. Success or failure in deterring Iran and Hezbollah will depend on perceptions in Tehran about whether the United States means what it says and is willing to back up political statements with military action if warnings are ignored.
Regardless, prudence requires the United States to assume that deterrence could fail in the north and that any major Israeli ground invasion of Gaza could be long, difficult, and resource-intensive.
Therefore, as the first of two additional and urgent steps, the Biden administration should strengthen Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. More than 5,000 rockets have been fired at Israel so far and if Hezbollah joins the war, this number it can be in the tens of thousands or even over 100,000. Large numbers of incoming rockets and projectiles could deluge Israeli air defenses exhaust Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptors and result in significant additional Israeli civilian casualties. Israel Needs every Iron Dome interceptor and battery can get their hands on it.
Therefore, the Pentagon should provide Israel with all of the US military’s Tamir interceptors from the two Iron Dome batteries, some of which the United States has already begun providing. The U.S. military first acquired an Iron Dome battery in 2020, but has not been able to effectively use the systems. Washington should consider providing Israel with the two Iron Dome batteries themselves. This would provide valuable additional air defense capability to Israel without significant risk to US military readiness.
Recognizing this reality, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on October 10, requesting such action. The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and co-signed by Sens. Mike Rounds, RS.D., Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y. and Rick Scott, R-Fla.. The letter said: “The immediate transfer of these two unused Iron Dome batteries to Israel would provide tangible, life-saving and sustained support to our ally as it faces rocket and missile bursts that threaten to overwhelm his defenses”.
As a second important step, the United States should immediately offer Israel full access to the War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel, or WRSA-I, held by the Pentagon in Israel. The stock it includes weapons that would prove useful to the IDF during its ground invasion of Gaza. The United States began stockpiling military equipment in Israel in 1984 and 1989 changed the terms of the stockpile to allow Israel access in emergency situations.
The Pentagon be allowed Israel will withdraw equipment from WRSA-I during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. During the bilateral training exercise Juniper Falcon in February 2019, US officers practiced transferring ammunition from WRSA-I to the IDF. The Pentagon should immediately make the stockpile available to Israel, both for practical reasons and as an additional show of support for Israel.
Israel is suffering from the worst terrorist attack in its history. America’s closest ally in the Middle East needs Washington’s help. The Biden administration has responded with admirable clarity and speed since Saturday. But additional steps are needed — and quickly.
Bradley Bowman is the senior director of the Center for Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Ryan Brobst is a senior research analyst.
Read the original at Defence247.gr
