President Trump has ordered that the main US military command for the Middle East be expanded to include Israel, in a last-minute reorganization of the US defense structure long advocated by pro-Israel groups, US officials said Thursday.
The move means that the US Central Command would oversee US military policies involving both Israel and the Arab nations, a departure from decades of US military chain of command set up due to bitterness between Israel and some of the US’s Arab allies. Pentagon.
It is the latest in a series of Trump policies to shape the national security agenda that President-elect Joe Biden will inherit. The change was recently ordered by Mr Trump, but has not yet been made public. A transition official for Biden declined to comment on the move.
US military responsibility for Israel had long been assigned to European command. That arrangement allowed American generals in the Middle East to communicate with Arab states without a close connection to Israel, which was seen as an adversary in the Arab world at the time.
Following the Abraham Accords that led to the normalization of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, pro-Israeli groups have stepped up efforts to make Central Command take responsibility for military operations and planning involving Israel is to promote greater cooperation between Israel. and its Arab neighbors.