Build a Major U.S. Military Base in Israel

Reports that the United States is working to turn a base in western Saudi Arabia into a major logistics hub suggest a broader, long-overdue effort to limit U.S. basing exposure to Iran’s short-range missiles.

Although these moves preceded Iran’s June 23 attack on a U.S. base in Qatar, the strike likely set off additional alarms for U.S. defense planners regarding America’s regional basing posture. Many key U.S. bases in the Middle East are close to and thus vulnerable and ill-suited for conflict with Iran.

As the United States explores alternative basing options beyond the range of Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles, Israel — already home to a U.S. weapons depot and air defense systems, as well as its own capable air and missile defenses — should be top of mind for U.S. policymakers.

Long a theoretical discussion, the vulnerability of U.S. Central Command’s forward operating base, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, was brought into sharp relief by Iran’s missile attack. The Iranian regime, newly weakened by Israel’s debilitating campaign and the devastating U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites, pulled its punches, fearing a major U.S. reprisal.

Iran telegraphed its attack, involving fewer than 20 missiles from Iran’s vast short-range missile stocks, to ensure that the United States could easily defend against it. Yet the Iranian attack signaled, for only the second time ever, the regime’s brazen willingness to launch missiles at American bases. That is why the United States moved crucial air assets away from the base in the preceding days.

Had Iran opted for a full-scale barrage on the U.S. base, it likely could have inflicted calamitous damage. Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, argued last year that Iranian missiles could reach the base in “five minutes or less” and overwhelm U.S. defenses. This absence of strategic depth endangers U.S. service members and critical platforms.

Although America’s enemies can only dream of downing a U.S. F-35 stealth fighter, on a tarmac, the jet’s exquisite capabilities are irrelevant. It is a sitting duck.

Access, basing and overflight rights granted by host nations are other key pieces of the forward basing conundrum. Glaring vulnerabilities of Al Udeid notwithstanding, Qatar has seemingly exercised vetoes over U.S. campaigns out of the base. For example, during Houthi attacks on global shipping and U.S. warships, Qatar strongly opposed action against the terrorist group, which may explain why American counter-Houthi operations were launched from aircraft carriers.

A retired senior U.S. military officer summed this up in March by saying the host country “gets a vote,” or, in effect, a veto, regarding U.S. missions originating from its base. What’s the point of a major strategic military base if you can’t use it?

As such, the United States should leverage every opportunity to expand available basing options to ensure freedom of action in any crisis or conflict.

Washington undoubtedly needs to reorient the U.S. basing arrangement in the Middle East, but downsizing the troop presence in the region is similarly unwise. It would invite yet more aggression from Iran and its terrorist proxies and limit America’s ability to defend its regional partners and respond to crises. The trusting relationships required to deter adversary aggression are built and sustained through full-time presence, not episodic deployments in times of crisis.

Shifting some U.S. basing to Israel checks all the boxes of a Goldilocks solution to project power, preserve readiness, and bolster alternative basing options without jeopardizing troops and military assets. Given the top-tier U.S. air defenses already stationed in Israel, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot systems, an American base in the Jewish state would be uniquely secure. It would benefit from Israel’s prodigious advances in cutting-edge, battle-tested defenses, such as laser-based interceptors.

As a benefit, the two countries already train and share maintenance needs across similar platforms, including the F-15, F-16 and F-35, and both would likely benefit from a U.S. basing footprint in Israel. In addition, the existing War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel stockpile of U.S. munitions prepositioned in Israel provides optimal conditions for Israel to become a major logistics hub.

Other mutual benefits abound from U.S. basing in Israel. The arrangement could be used for joint training on F-15s to address a shortage of training jets in the United States. Israel already flies several variants of the key fighter jets used by the U.S. Air Force and is slated to receive more than two dozen F-15s and F-35s in the coming years.

Israel’s experimentation, modification and enhancements of U.S. jets, such as equipping them with advanced electronic warfare suites refined by world-leading Israeli firms, could yield vital innovation.

A major U.S. base in Israel, accompanied by increased prepositioned munitions, is a logical next step in a much-needed U.S. basing reorientation in the Middle East.