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PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Should Accept Offer to Shift Forces to Israel, Beyond Iran’s Easy Reach

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA: Israel’s Offer Would Provide U.S. Safe Staging Ground for Operations Against Iran

Washington, DC – Reports indicate Israel is prepared to invite the United States to relocate some of its Middle East regional bases to Israel. The United States should pursue this move, building directly on its deployment of F-22 combat aircraft to Israel’s Ovda Air Base and the vulnerabilities of U.S. forces to Iranian attacks on bases in nearby Arab states. This is what JINSA recommended in its November report, Base for Success, which first made the case for Ovda’s unique ability to support U.S. offensive operations against Iran.

Jonathan Ruhe, JINSA Fellow for American Strategy, who led the task force of retired U.S. Air Force generals, all with CENTCOM experience, to explore U.S. basing options in Israel, issued the following statement:

“The United States should seize the opportunity to get better, safer, more hospitable facilities than it has anywhere else in the Middle East by growing its presence at Ovda Air Base in Israel. It already recognized the unique value of operating from Israel by sending F-22s there before the war started; now, it should expand these arrangements.

“Our report was the first to show how Israeli airbases provided greater freedom of action, higher readiness, stronger missile and drone defenses, robust logistics and maintenance, and interoperability against Iranian targets, compared to our bases near the Gulf. The current conflict highlights just how vital such support and security are for U.S. military success.”

Read the Report

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