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For decades, the United States and Israel have shared a deep strategic relationship aimed at confronting the common threats to both nations. During the Cold War, the United States and Israel collaborated in limiting Soviet influence in the region. Today, in the post-9/11 world, Israel remains America's most reliable and stable Middle Eastern ally, working to defeat common threats and supporting America's regional and global policy objectives.

Israel is America's Most Reliable Middle East Ally

The United States and Israel together are facing a host of threats and challenges in the Middle East. These range from terrorism, the spread of radical Islamist ideology and nuclear and missile proliferation to narcotics, counterfeiting, and cyberwarfare. Israel is a reliable fellow democracy that shares America's values and world view in a region often dominated by radical forces, dictatorial regimes and extremist non-state actors.



With no other country in the region-and few in the entire world-does the United States share the same high level of strategic cooperation. American-Israeli cooperation begins with strategic dialogues among senior political and military leaders and extends to combined military planning and exercises, intelligence-sharing and technology development.

The expanding web of American and Israeli military and intelligence coordination has provided a powerful deterrent to those in the Middle East who seek to harm either country. The historic alliance between the United States and Israel is perhaps the most stabilizing feature in an otherwise unstable region of the world.



Israel's presence in the region provides a de facto guarantor of security well beyond its borders that would be costly to replace. Israel's military strength and central geo-strategic location provide a strong deterrent against Iran and other radical forces that threaten other American friends and America's overall regional and global objectives.

President Obama has voiced a similar view on the importance of the relationship, saying, "Many of the same forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States and our efforts to secure peace and stability in the Middle East. Our alliance with Israel serves our national security interests."


Israeli Technology Helps Protect American Soldiers

The close strategic relationship between the United States and Israel began with the allies sharing key intelligence and "lessons-learned" after the 1967 Six-Day War. This partnership was later broadened and formalized in the early 1980s when U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon signed the first formal agreement on strategic cooperation and President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir announced the establishment of a "Joint Political Military Group" to establish mechanisms for planning, exercises, and prepositioning against threats faced by both nations in the Middle East. Later in the decade, Israel was formally designated by an act of Congress as a major non-NATO ally of the United States.


Research-and-development collaboration between the United States and Israel has produced ground-breaking technologies and security techniques that are incorporated by the armed forces of both countries. Examples include:



Israeli developed unmanned drones have flown more than 600 reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

U.S.-Israeli joint missile defense programs protect Israel and provide the United States advanced knowledge for its own missile defense shield. (Video)

Israeli developed armored plating protects U.S. tanks.

The Israeli developed emergency bandage saves American lives. (Video)

Israel Helps U.S. Armed Forces Train and Respond

The two allies routinely engage in combined military exercises involving American and Israeli land, sea and air forces. A centerpiece of the interaction between the two militaries has been combined missile defense training, including the biannual "Juniper Cobra" exercise in which the two sides practice cooperative tactics to counter the growing threat of attack by ballistic missiles and long-range rockets.



Twice annually, U.S. Marines conduct desert warfare training with their Israel Defense Forces (IDF) counterparts, and American soldiers and security officials have received Israeli instruction on urban combat techniques. Elite U.S. special warfare units regularly train with their IDF counterparts, exchanging valuable tactics and fighting techniques that both sides have learned through the course of difficult and costly operations against similar Mideast adversaries. U.S. pilots hold mock dogfights with the Israeli Air Force and have tested aerial combat tactics and practiced refueling. Additionally, the United States pre-positions a variety of military equipment such as ammunition and high-tech gear in Israel for the use by either country in a time of crisis.



Israel and the United States have cooperated on a wide range of intelligence-sharing programs, including work on monitoring Iran, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Israel's hard-earned technical and professional expertise in counter-terrorism and homeland security was made completely available to the United States in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.



Israel Helps the U.S. Protect American Citizens



Since 9/11, the United States and Israel have intensified their homeland security cooperation. Israel shares priceless information about terrorist organizations with the United States and is working with U.S. government and private entities to develop technologies and equipment aimed at thwarting terrorism and safeguarding citizens from both nations.



Israel has developed expertise across many key homeland security areas, including critical infrastructure protection, border security, airport security, explosives detection, bioterrorism preparedness, biometrics, water and food security, and emergency preparedness and response.



American law-enforcement officers and first responders are increasingly studying Israel's battle against terrorism to glean lessons for U.S. efforts to protect its citizens. Israel frequently hosts delegations of American police chiefs, sheriffs and emergency responders. On their return home, these officials have infused their departments' training with lessons on how Israeli security forces prevent terrorist attacks such as suicide bombings.



In May 2010, the National Guard head General Craig McKinley travelled to Israel to observe the IDF's Home Front Command exercise, Turning Point 4, which simulated a major bioterrorism attack. Read about the observations American National Guard commanders made about how they can better prepare U.S. soldiers to deal with disasters.



Watch a video about the Turning Point 4 drill.

President Barack Obama

"The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable. It encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests, but most importantly, the bond of two democracies who share a common set of values."







—Barack Obama, President of the United States



PM Benjamin Netanyahu

"We're forging new ground and we're cooperating in unprecedented ways."







—Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel



White House Statement

"Our commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable and our defense relationship is stronger than ever, to the mutual benefit of both nations."







—The White House, Office of the Press Secretary- May 27, 2010