JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky Quoted in Arutz Sheva on U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense Pact

By Arutz Sheva Staff, Arutz Sheva

One of the key proponents of an Israel-US defense pact, Dr. Michael Makovsky, Chairman of the JINSA institute, addressed concerns over the pact in an interview with Israel Hayom, stating that “The expected defense alliance between the US and Israel will not restrict freedom of IDF action.”

Makovsky made it clear that, “according to our proposal, it is a limited defense pact. That is, for Israel, it will deal only with extreme situations that Israel may face, and not constant or regular problems that you face. Rocket fire on Israel is something that happens every day, and our proposal doesn’t deal with that.”

Makovsky also said: “We are talking about cases such as the use of unconventional weapons against Israel, war on several fronts, threats to Israel’s naval and air supply lines. In such cases, the agreement will not specify in detail what the US will do but will say, as is customary in defense contracts, something along the lines of ‘The US will come out and help Israel.’”

Makovsky’s remarks come in response to allegations made by MK Gabi Ashkenazi and other personalities, including Prof. Eitan Gilboa in an interview with Arutz Sheva, who stated that the defense pact would only restrict Israel and require it to consult with, and even obtain approval from, the US for any military action it intends to take.

These critics have argued that the discourse on a defense pact is nothing but Netanyahu’s “spin.” Prof. Gilboa also mentioned that similar proposals had been made in the past, but were rejected because Israel refused to restrict itself militarily, preferring that the US settle for selling arms to Israel and no more.

Read in Arutz Sheva.