Dozens of American troops will set up systems to identify and intercept aerial threats within the Israel Defense Forces Air Defense School in southern Israel, near Beersheba.
Israeli Air Force Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, the commander of Israel’s aerial defense, said the base would mostly serve as “a joint Israeli and American effort to sustain and enhance our defensive capabilities”.
According to Defense News, the base will include barracks for US soldiers stationed in Israel. The US soldiers will be under Israeli military command and it will not involve operational changes related to current training or exercises.
“It’s a message that says Israel is better prepared. It’s a message that says Israel is improving the response to threats,” Haimovich told The Associated Press.
The Pentagon already has an independent facility it operates in the Negev Desert, but it is used only by American personnel in case of a “possible ballistic missile attack from Iran”.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat. An Iranian Memorial Day parade in the southwest Ahvaz region was attacked this week, killing some 30 unarmed conscripts, veterans and civilian bystanders.
Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen meanwhile reported that Russia will be closing the airspace above Syria’s territorial waters towards the end of the month. According to the report, the decision to shut the airspace was made by Russia’s National Security Council after a Russian military plane was shot down.
The Russian military has concluded that the Israeli provocation which led to the plane’s demise was intentional.
Russia began stepping up operations off the coast of Syria following the downing of its military aircraft, media outlets in Cyprus reported on Thursday. Russia reportedly decided to close areas near Cyprus to air, land and sea movement from Thursday until next Wednesday for the sake of military operations. Sources in Israel confirmed the report.
It has also asked Iran to provide access to the military air base Noyeh in the northwestern parts of the country.
It is assumed that the air base will be used as a transit airfield on the way to Syria, where Russian military and military transport planes will be refueled. Syrian sources believe it would include several fighters and 4 air tankers IL-78.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, has however not issued any formal statements yet.
The Israeli actions were also condemned by Yasin Aktay, a senior advisor of Turkey’s President Erdogan, who accused Israel of attempting to sabotage the new Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement to end the war in Syria in a official statement.
