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US military chief Dempsey reassures Israel over qualitative edge during visit
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, yesterday completed a two-day visit to Israel, during which he reassured the country’s leaders that commitments made to Gulf states in light of the nascent nuclear deal with Iran would not compromise Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region.
Dempsey, on his fifth visit to Israel in office, was greeted by his Israeli counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, telling him that Israel and the IDF has “no greater friend on the face of the Earth than the United States military.”
Dempsey also met with Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon and other Israeli security officials, discussing common threats and challenges, particularly Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Addressing the nascent deal under discussion between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany), Dempsey said “If a deal is made, we’ve got work to do. If a deal is not made, we’ve got work to do.” Despite disagreements over the proposed deal between Israeli and US leaders, Dempsey concluded “I think we’ve built up enough trust and confidence in each other — military to military — that we’re prepared to do that work.”
Dempsey also allayed Israeli concerns that recent American commitments towards Gulf states to supply them with military hardware in light of the Iranian threat, would impact Israel’s regional military superiority. A US Defence Department statement said that Dempsey “reassured Israeli officials that the United States is attuned to their concerns and will work with them on mitigating any risk to them,” highlighting in particular that Israel will be the only country in the region with the F-35 Lighting II joint strike fighter.
Dempsey is a strong supporter of Israel’s military doctrine. Following Operation Protective Edge last summer, he sent an American military delegation to Israel to learn lessons from the way Israeli forces conducted themselves during the conflict, commenting “I actually do think that Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties.”