Marcy Oster 01/17/2021
In another dividend of the recent normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states, the US Defense Department announced that it would include Israel in its Central Command, or CENTCOM.
The Pentagon announced the change in a statement on Friday, though reportedly there has been talk of moving Israel from the European Command to CENTCOM for years, and even more talk about it in recent weeks.
In its announcement, the Pentagon called the move a “sign of the changing political environment in the Middle East.”
CENTCOM, one of 11 US Defense Department unified combatant commands, is responsible for the command and control of all US military forces in the Middle East, including Egypt, as well as Central Asia and parts of South Asia.
In waning days, Trump shakes up CENTCOM to increase Arab-Israeli efforts against Iran January 15 Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, center, will have to figure out how to fold Israel into his mix. (Staff Sgt. Alexandria Brun/Air Force) With just days left in his presidency and in a bid to solidify Arab-Israeli efforts against Iran before Joe Biden takes office, Donald Trump has shaken up the headquarters overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Moving Israel from U.S. European Command responsibilty to CENTCOM was once a non-starter because of long-simmering tensions between Israel and its regional neighbors, who have been CENTCOM’s allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. It is the crowning piece of Trump’s efforts to stitch together disparate nations with a common enemy, following the signing of the Abraham Accords, in which Israel normalized relations with former enemies Bahrain and the
All eyes on Reed as Austin waiver splits Democrats January 12 Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol March 22, 2018. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has yet to take over as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but he’s already facing division within the panel and his party over the issue of President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon. Four years ago, Reed, D-R.I., reluctantly supported President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of a recently retired general for defense secretary, Jim Mattis, despite expressing fears it would erode civilian control of the military. He vowed not to support another one in the future.
Biden won’t have his defense secretary in place on Day One January 7 Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, meets with Gen. Lloyd Austin, who has been nominated to be the next secretary of defense. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
UPDATE: The Senate Armed Services Committee has set a confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin: Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. WASHINGTON ― U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is pressuring Congress to quickly confirm his nominees for national security roles, but it appears the congressional calendar won’t permit his pick for defense secretary to be in place on Day One of the Biden administration.
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