A strong possibility exists that the United States will keep missile defenses in Israel after a drill the nations plan to conduct in October, high-level Israeli officials told the Jerusalem Post Sunday (see GSN, July 24).
The exercise, dubbed Juniper Cobra, is expected to involve the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system and Israel's Arrow 2 missile defense technology.
"There is some sense in deploying additional systems here since the U.S. already has the X-band radar in the Negev, storehouses with equipment and close cooperation with the [Israel Defense Forces]," one official said.
The new deployments make particular sense following a recent report that the United States intends to cancel a proposal to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of alternative sites in Israel, Turkey or the Balkans, the official added (see GSN, Aug. 28; Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, Sept. 7).