The Pentagon would work with Israel and several Arab states to integrate air defenses to thwart threats from Iran, under proposed bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress on Thursday.
The bill is the latest attempt by the U.S. to bolster defense cooperation between Israel and the broader Middle East following normalization of relations with several Arab states. Once hostile toward Israel, those governments have been edging closer to the majority Jewish state. The proposal aims to prod them to better coordinate across the region, congressional aides said.
Under the bill, the Pentagon must submit a strategy that identifies an “approach to an integrated air and missile defense system” within 180 days of when the measure becomes law, according to a draft of the bill reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Such defenses would better protect Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the four other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt, Iraq, Israel and Jordan, “from cruise and ballistic missiles, manned and unmanned aerial systems, and rocket attacks from Iran, and for other purposes,” according to the draft.
In March, Houthi rebels from Yemen attacked an oil depot in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Photo:
Hassan Ammar/Associated Press
Egypt and Jordan made peace with Israel decades ago, while council members Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations in a series of U.S.-brokered deals in 2020 known as the Abraham Accords. Iraq and the rest of the council don’t formally recognize Israel, but many of the countries have informal contacts, in large part to help counter Iranian activities.
“Going forward, America’s cooperation with our allies and partners in the region must evolve as violent extremists change their tactics and onboard new capabilities capable of catastrophic damage against civilian targets,” said Sen.
Joni Ernst
(R., Iowa), who is sponsoring the bill along with Sen.
Jacky Rosen
(D., Nev.) and others, during a news conference Thursday.
Six representatives also co-sponsored a similar bill on the House side.
There has long been support on Capitol Hill for increased defense cooperation between Arab nations and Israel, particularly since the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia is expanding its secretive talks with Israel to build business ties and create new security arrangements, the Journal has reported.
Initial efforts are under way to find common areas for defense integration over shared concerns about Iran. Earlier this year, the U.A.E. and Israel accelerated their security and intelligence cooperation efforts in the wake of a series of attacks on Abu Dhabi by Tehran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. Bahrain and Israel signed an agreement designed to be the framework for future cooperation.
Greater cooperation between Israel and the Arab states is driving lawmakers to look for ways to change how the U.S. military operates in the region, said
Jon Alterman,
a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The 10 countries named in the bill are partners or allies of Washington. And while the U.S. supplies most of their militaries with significant air-defense capabilities and helps operate them, there isn’t regular coordination between the sovereign states. Closer cooperation, security experts say, would provide a better early warning system for the nations involved.
One potential outcome, should the bill pass, is that the U.S. would help the Arab states and Israel agree to share radar, one congressional aide said.
Write to Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com and Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com
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Appeared in the June 10, 2022, print edition as ‘U.S. Aims to Help Integrate Israeli, Arab Air Defenses.’