The military cooperation and exercises between Israel, the United States and the Gulf states are part of the parties' preparations for a military confrontation with Iran - as confirmed to Israel Today by Lt. Col. Shachar Shoshana, head of the North American branch of the IDF's Foreign Relations Division.
Shoshana coordinated the preparations in the IDF for the visit of the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, which took place earlier this week. "This policy allows us to expand our freedom of action and to do in public things that were previously done in secret. We are experiencing new regional cooperation. A group of countries has been created that talk together.
With the Israeli flag in the background: a huge Iranian exercise at the beginning of the month // Photo: Reuters
In response to a question from "Israel Today," the officer confirmed that the joint exercise for the U.S. Navy's fifth fleet, the IDF and the Gulf armies, held last week in the Red Sea, is one of the collaborations in question.
So are the photographs of Air Force planes escorting American bombers in Israeli skies.
According to Shoshana, the existence of the joint exercises and their publication are the result of the Abrahamic Accords, because as a result of which Israel was transferred from the European Command to the Central Command. Because it is the command that is responsible for dealing with the Iranian threat - which was not under European command.
The Central Command (US) has identified the main threat in Iran.
"This is his reference scenario, and he is preparing himself for action against Iran, as we are preparing ourselves in the face of our reference scenarios."
Shoshana added: "The Americans are preparing for this as the number one problem, and together with the countries of normalization (Emirates and Bahrain; etc.) an opportunity has been created to build a regional network and a military capability to deal with Iran.
Due to the normalization agreements we are building more advanced capabilities.
"Things that happened in secret until less than a year ago are now public."
As mentioned, the remarks were made on the occasion of a visit to Israel by the American ambassador, who was the IDF's guest last week. Thomas Greenfield toured the Gaza Strip and the northern border with Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Ardan;
And with the deputy chief of staff, Herzli Halevi. Among other things, she also entered one of the Hezbollah tunnels on the border with Lebanon.
