http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/israel-global-natos-29th-member
Stop NATO
January 17, 2010
Israel: Global NATO's 29th Member
Rick Rozoff
As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is pressuring its 28 member states
and dozens of partnership affiliates on five continents to contribute more
troops for the war in Afghanistan, the Jerusalem Post reported on January 13
that "Israel is launching a diplomatic initiative in an effort to influence the
outcome of NATO's new Strategic Concept which is currently under review by a
team of experts led by former United States Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright." [1]
NATO is crafting its updated Strategic Concept to replace that last formulated
in 1999, the year of the military bloc's expansion into Eastern Europe and its
first full-fledged war, the 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
Madeleine Albright, arguably the individual most publicly identified with
orchestrating both NATO's absorption of three former Warsaw Pact members,
including her native Czech Republic, and in launching Operation Allied Force,
co-chairs NATO's Group of Experts with Jeroen van der Veer, CEO of Royal Dutch
Shell until June of 2009.
In addition, "To ensure close coordination between the Group of Experts and
NATO Headquarters, the Secretary General has designated a small NATO team lead
by Dr. Jamie Shea, head of Policy Planning Unit, to function as a secretariat
and staff support." [2] Shea was NATO spokesman in 1999 and is now Director of
Policy Planning in the Private Office of the Secretary General at NATO
Headquarters.
Last October 1 NATO and Lloyd's of London ("the world's leading insurance
market" in its own words) co-organized a conference in London to unveil and
promote the new Strategic Concept. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of
NATO and Lloyd's chairman Lord Peter Levene delivered the major addresses.
Host Levene conjured up "a myriad of determined and deadly threats" that
required NATO intervention worldwide and Rasmussen itemized no fewer than
eighteen of those - none remotely resembling a military attack on or challenge
to a single member state. [3]
Recently Madeleine Albright has been traveling to several European capitals to
preside over a series of seminars on the updated Strategic Concept and the
latest of those, in Oslo, Norway on January 13, was attended by officials from
the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
In preparation for the above meeting "Several weeks ago, a former senior
Israeli diplomat met privately with Albright to discuss Israeli interests in
the concept that is under review." [4]
The same source added the following background information:
"Israeli-NATO ties have increased dramatically in recent years. Chairman of the
Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola visited Israel in November, and
the Israeli Navy has announced plans to deploy a missile ship with Active
Endeavour, a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea....
"Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion
of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to
participate in top NATO forums....Israel is a member of the Mediterranean
Dialogue, which was created in 1994 to foster ties with Middle Eastern
countries like Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco." [5]
By 2000 NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue had expanded to include seven nations in
the Middle East and Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco
and Tunisia.
1994 was the same year that the North Atlantic bloc launched the Partnership
for Peace (PfP) program. Both partnerships were inaugurated only three years
after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the breakup of the Soviet Union
left not only Eastern Europe but the Middle East, Africa and Asia open to
Western military penetration and expansion.
The Partnership for Peace has included all fifteen former Soviet and all six
former Yugoslav federal republics as well as all non-Soviet Warsaw Pact
members. Twelve of those - Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -
became full NATO members in the decade ending last year after passing through
the PfP.
In addition, the program takes in all former neutral, non-aligned states in
Europe except for Cyprus: Austria, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and
Switzerland. Malta withdrew from the PfP in 1996 but was reabsorbed in 2008.
Pro-U.S. parties in the Cypriot parliament are waging an all-out campaign to
drag their nation into the program.
Except for Malta, only recently reentering the PfP, the six nations listed
above have sent troop contingents of varying sizes to Afghanistan to serve
under NATO command. The only countries in all of Europe (excluding the
microstates of Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican
City), including the Caucasus, that have not offered troops for the Afghan war
front to date are Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Malta, Moldova and Cyprus.
At its 2004 summit in Istanbul, Turkey the largest single expansion of NATO in
its history occurred as seven states were brought in as full members, all in
Eastern Europe and including the first former Soviet and former Yugoslav
republics recruited as full members of the Alliance.
The Istanbul summit also lent itself to another, similarly ambitious, project:
The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). [6] The ICI purposed to elevate the
seven Mediterranean Dialogue partners to a status analogous to that of the
Partnership for Peace and to consolidate military ties with the six members of
the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.
Since Algeria joined the Mediterranean Dialogue in 2000, Montenegro became an
independent state in 2006 and joined the Partnership for Peace the same year,
and Malta rejoined the latter two years later, every Mediterranean littoral and
island nation except - for the moment - Cyprus, Lebanon, Libya and Syria is
either a NATO member or partner. The Mediterranean Dialogue also allows NATO to
stretch down the Atlantic Coast of Africa to Morocco and Mauritania.
If the accession of new members and the Partnership for Peace provided NATO
with outposts on Russia's borders (Azerbaijan, Estonia, Finland, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine) and on China's (Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative has allowed for
the further encirclement of Iran by moving Alliance influence and military
presence into the Persian Gulf.
Of the thirteen Middle Eastern and African nations targeted by it, Israel is
the one that most immediately and substantively seized on the opportunity the
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative offered.
The enhanced status of the Mediterranean Dialogue led within months of the
Istanbul NATO summit to Israel engaging in Alliance activities for the first
time.
On February 24, 2005 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer became the first NATO secretary
general to visit Israel and the next month "Israel and NATO conducted their
first ever joint naval exercise in the Red Sea, signalling a strengthening of
relations." An Alliance naval group visited the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat
for a week-long visit, "which included a joint exercise with the Israel Navy."
[7]
As Britain's Jane's Defence Weekly reported, "The novelty in the exercise was
the fact it was conducted with NATO ships, which operate regularly in the
Mediterranean, but rarely visit the Red Sea." [8]
In May of the same year it was announced that "Israel plans to stage three
military exercises with NATO during 2005.
"Israeli officials said the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has
submitted a plan to NATO that would include the staging of three exercises with
Israel's military over the next 10 months. They said the exercises would take
place at NATO headquarters in Brussels...."
An Israeli official was cited as saying, "We have no doubt that Israel will
gain immensely from closer ties with NATO, and we also believe that Israel has
much to offer NATO in return." [9]
In the same month a planning conference for "NATO-led military exercises in the
framework of the Partnership for Peace" program was held in Macedonia and was
"attended by representatives of over 20 countries, including, for the first
time, two countries from the so-called Mediterranean Dialogue - Israel and
Jordan." [10]
Jane's again: "Whereas Israel's geopolitical location could offer an
'external base' for the defence of the West, NATO's military and economic
status could provide added security and economic benefits for the host state.
"In a rapidly changing strategic environment, Israeli policy makers are
recognising definite advantages, especially in security affairs, in developing
closer ties with NATO. The present Israeli government's enthusiasm for this
project can be seen in an ambitious set of proposals submitted to the
Alliance," which included "joint military training [and] future joint
development of weapons systems." [11]
In June "The Israeli navy participated for the first time in a NATO submarine
exercise in the Gulf of Taranto off the Italian coast," Sorbet Royal 2005.
"Israel was seeking to extend its strategic alliance with NATO beyond what is
offered to its Mediterranean cooperation group, even up to full membership of
NATO." [12]
According to an Israeli account before the war games began, "14 nations and
about 2,000 forces are to spend the next three weeks hunting for four
submarines resting on the ocean floor...." [13]
In July of 2005 Israeli ground troops participated in a NATO military exercise
for the first time, a 22-nation training mission in Ukraine that lasted for two
and a half weeks. "The drill dealt mainly with antiterrorism combat and
low-intensity conflict, but it also symbolized an increasing participation of
Israeli forces in NATO."
Israeli Colonel Alon Friedman said on the occasion that "There have been senior
commanders who have gone to NATO events as well as consultants, but never
combatants like this." The Jerusalem Post reported that "Friedman said he was
not privy to the diplomatic moves to get the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] more
involved in NATO, but he understood the initiative came from NATO." [14]
By the following year the level of collaboration between the world's sole
military bloc and Israel had increased further. A column appeared at an Israeli
news site on February 1 called "Is Israel headed for NATO?" authored by Uzi
Arad. Arad established the Atlantic Forum of Israel in 2004 and still chairs
the organization. The Atlantic Forum is the main vehicle for promoting
NATO-Israel integration on the Israeli side. It's website, currently under
construction, features a Star of David side-by-side with the NATO symbol. [15]
Uzi Arad has an interesting biography, both before and after the founding of
the Atlantic Forum. He was the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu from 1997-1999 "on secondment from the Mossad, in which he
served for more than two decades, culminating in his tenure as Director of
Research (Intelligence)." [16] He has also been Advisor to the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee.
Complications developed last year when was "designated to become chairman of
the National Security Council under Netanyahu," but "The press in
Washington...reported that Arad had been refused permission to enter the
country" [17] because of "his alleged contacts with Pentagon analyst Larry
Franklin, who has been convicted of passing information to Israel." [18] By the
end of last March the Obama administration nevertheless approved his visa
application for discussions in Washington on Iran.
An Israeli newspaper described his major project: "Working closely with NATO,
the Atlantic Forum of Israel seeks to promote and enhance Israel's relations
and standing with the Atlantic Alliance and has played an important role in
advancing this relationship." [19]
In the aforementioned article of Arad's in February of 2006 he wrote "For the
past two years, cooperation between Israel and NATO has become closer, to a
certain degree – both on a multilateral level, within the Mediterranean
Dialogue, and on a bilateral level, directly with NATO."
He added that "Last year, Israeli Ambassador [to the European Union in Brussels
and envoy to NATO] Oded Eran submitted an official proposal for increasing
cooperation, and since the visit of NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer to Israel last June, NATO and Israel have been negotiating over
completing the multilateral cooperation plan.
"Israel consented, and announced its willingness to participate in Operation
Active Endeavor, which is being conducted in the Mediterranean Sea as part of
the alliance’s counter-terrorism effort. It also took part in three military
exercises and hosted a conference of air force commanders from NATO and its
partners." [20]
A feature in the Wall Street Journal a few days after Arad's article appeared,
"NATO, Israel Draw Closer," quoted Arad as asserting: "The only thing worse
than Israel being a member of NATO may be Israel not
being a member of NATO." It also mentioned another prime mover in fostering the
Israel-NATO nexus, one on the U.S. (and European) end. "Ronald Asmus, a senior
State Department official during the Clinton administration who is credited by
Mr. Arad with being an 'intellectual godfather' of closer NATO-Israel links,
says arguments against membership remind him of the initial opposition to NATO
enlargement to former Soviet bloc states or the alliance assuming its first
missions beyond Europe." [21]
The German Marshall Fund of the United States website provides this background
information on Asmus:
"Dr. Asmus is currently Executive Director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic
Center and responsible for Strategic Planning at the German Marshall Fund of
the US.
"[He was] Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from
1997-2000 and has been a senior analyst and fellow at Radio Free Europe, RAND
and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been a pioneering voice in the
debate over post-Cold War European security and NATO's transformation. He has
published widely and is the author of Opening Nato's Door.
"For his ideas and diplomatic accomplishments, he has been decorated by the
U.S. Department of State as well as the governments of Estonia, Georgia, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden." [22]
The Washington Post published his article "Contain Iran: Admit Israel to NATO"
on February 21, 2006 which contained these recommendations:
"The best way to provide Israel with that additional security is to upgrade its
relationship with the collective defense arm of the West: NATO. Whether that
upgraded relationship culminates in membership for Israel or simply a much
closer strategic and operational defense relationship can be debated."
"Several leading Europeans have called for NATO to embrace Israel, but this
debate will not get serious until the United States, Israel’s main ally, puts
its weight behind the idea. The time has come to do so." [23]
Earlier in the month he co-authored a lengthy piece called "Does Israel Belong
In the EU and NATO?" with Bruce P. Jackson. Jackson was the founder and head of
the U.S. Committee on NATO/Expand NATO and the Committee for the Liberation of
Iraq set up four months before the invasion of the nation and is on the Board
of Directors of the Project for the New American Century. Asmus and Jackson
wrote that "what some Israeli strategic thinkers are starting to discuss - and
what we are addressing here - is...an upgraded strategic relationship between
Israel and EuroAtlantic institutions like NATO and the EU that would lead to
increasingly closer ties and could include eventual membership." [24]
The third leg of the Israel-NATO integration stool is Ivo Daalder, until
recently Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and now the new U.S.
administration's ambassador to NATO where he has a free hand to implement his
projects.
In the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs, published by the Council on
Foreign Relations, he and co-author James Goldgeier, Adjunct Senior Fellow at
the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote an article called "Global NATO" which
included this excerpt:
"With little fanfare - and even less notice - the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization has gone global."
What Daalder had in mind had been adumbrated two years earlier when he wrote
"We need an Alliance of Democratic States. This organization would unite
nations with entrenched democratic traditions, such as the United States and
Canada; the European Union countries; Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and
Australia; India and Israel; Botswana and Costa Rica." [25]
NATO will be the framework for a new U.S.-led global order with the United
Nations reduced to a mere handmaiden and cleanup service.
In March of 2006 James Jones, then military chief of the Pentagon's European
Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and now U.S. National Security
Adviser, commented on another advance in NATO-Israeli military integration, the
first deployment of NATO AWACS to Israel for a military exercise "apparently as
a signal to Iran":
“We’ve had NATO AWACS deployed to do some demonstrations in Israel, and we do
have an active dialogue with the Israeli defense force in terms of
interoperability, and particularly as it regards the security of the
Mediterranean basin at sea.” [26]
In May, eight NATO warships docked in the Israeli port city of Haifa "which the
military said was an indication of strengthening ties between Israel and the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation" preparatory to the Israeli Navy "tak[ing]
part for the first time in a NATO naval exercise in the Black Sea in June...."
[27] That month the Israeli navy missile ship Achi Eilat left Haifa with its
NATO counterparts to join in Operation Mako, "a ten-country joint training
exercise in the Black Sea led by NATO-Mediterranean Dialogue countries." The
war games also included ships from "Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Albania,
Algeria, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates and others." The event marked "the
first time that an operational unit of the IDF will fully participate with NATO
in a military-like operation." [28]
(By way of follow up, on January 11, 2010 Focus News Agency in Bulgaria
revealed that the Israeli Air Force plans to use bases in that country for
training exercises.)
NATO reported on the exercises, especially in reference to the Istanbul
Cooperation Initiative, that "over 2000 personnel and some 25 ships from NATO
and Partner countries are rehearsing joint operations at sea in and around
Constanta, Romania" where the U.S. and NATO have subsequently acquired a
strategic military base.
"Nine NATO countries are taking part (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Romania, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom), four Partner countries
(Albania, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Georgia) as well as two Mediterranean
Dialogue countries (Algeria and Israel).
"In addition, for the first time, the exercise is being observed by a country
from NATO’s Istanbul Cooperation Initiative – the United Arab Emirates." [29]
"The purpose of the exercise [is] to create better interoperability between the
Israeli Navy and NATO naval forces. Israel was invited to participate in the
exercise as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue." [30]
In the same month the Israeli Defense Ministry acknowledged that "In a move
intended to further bolster ties between Israel and NATO, the IDF is
putting search-and-rescue forces on standby so they can be immediately
dispatched to participate in NATO global operations."
In addition, it was announced that "Israel might also be willing to send field
hospitals to NATO peacekeeping forces stationed around the world" and "The IDF
has also decided to dispatch a high-ranking navy officer to Naples in the
coming months, where he will participate in NATO's...Operation Active
Endeavor." [31]
Toward the end of June a U.S. Congressional committee "unanimously
approved a resolution that calls for enhancing Israel’s relationship with NATO."
"The resolution recommends upgrading Israel’s affiliation to a 'leading member
of NATO’s Individual Cooperation Program,' a promotion the bill says
ultimately will lead to Israel’s full membership in the alliance." [32]
The Individual Cooperation Program was a provision made available to
Mediterranean Dialogue members within the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. On
October 16, 2006 NATO and Israel concluded an Individual Cooperation Program
agreement.
"Israel and NATO have approved a long-term plan for cooperation in 27 different
areas" and "Israel is the first non-European country, and the first in the
Middle East to cooperate with NATO and reach a bilateral agreement with the
organization." [33]
Indeed, it is the only country (excepting Iceland) outside of Europe that is
included in the U.S. European Command's area of responsibility. (As neighboring
Egypt is the only African nation not in Africa Command.) The rest of the Middle
East, like Egypt, is covered by Central Command. For NATO's purposes Israel -
like the South Caucasus states of Armenia and Georgia if not Azerbaijan - is
for all intents a European nation.
As the country's minister of foreign affairs Tzipi Livni said at the NATO’s
Transformation, the Mediterranean Dialogue, and NATO-Israel Relations seminar
in Herzliya on October 24, 2006, "The alliance between NATO and Israel is only
natural....Israel and NATO share a common strategic vision....[T]hreats, aimed
at Israel and the western-valued moderate community, position Israel more then
ever before on the Euro-Atlantic side. In many ways, Israel is the front line
defending our common way of life." [34]
The two-day conference was organized by the Atlantic Forum of Israel and the
NATO Public Diplomacy Division and occurred only two months after the end of
Israel's second Lebanon war, which displaced 900,000 Lebanese, a quarter of the
nation's population.
Delivering her address at the meeting, Livni acknowledged "it is...no secret
that Israel preferred the involvement of the forces of NATO in Lebanon....In
meeting these strategic threats, NATO is most essential." She also said "Israel
will be glad to cooperate and participate in positive NATO regional and local
initiatives, among them: the Mediterranean Dialogue; the like minded global
partnership; and the inclusion of Israel in the PFP (Partnership For Peace)
NATO program." [35]
NATO was represented by Deputy Secretary General Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, whose
keynote address included:
"We have recently agreed [upon] an individual cooperation programme – or ICP.
This programme is the first of its kind in the Mediterranean Dialogue....Just a
few weeks ago, an exchange of letters between NATO and Israel set the stage for
an Israeli contribution to Active Endeavour....This will be the first
contribution from a Mediterranean Dialogue nation and represents another truly
significant step forward for both NATO and Israel.
"The posting of an Israeli Liaison Officer to the NATO Command in Naples is a
further indication of the vitality of our cooperation, as was the demonstration
of a NATO AWACS plane in Israel. And, last but not least, over the course of
this year, Israel has participated in two major NATO/PfP military exercises in
Romania and Ukraine." [36]
A retired Israeli intelligence officer told an American news agency that the
Individual Cooperation Program with NATO "allows for 2,000 joint activities -
thrice the volume open to the countries involved in the Mediterranean
Dialogue." [37]
The previously mentioned Oded Eran, Israel's representative at NATO
headquarters, alluding to the Alliance's military assistance clause, was quoted
by the same source as saying that what had been achieved was "a multilateral
umbrella....We don't necessarily need article 5. The very fact we're members of
such an organization gives...a sort of guarantee." [38]
By the end of 2006 Israel-NATO military integration had proceeded to the stage
that:
The Jewish state was granted a partnership agreement with the Western military
bloc more advanced than any accorded any other nation outside of Europe.
The nation's foreign minister publicly called for her country's inclusion in
NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which has recently successfully groomed
twelve other states for full membership in the bloc.
Calls were being made in the West and Israel alike for the latter's full
membership in NATO.
Extending Article 5 protection, hitherto limited to full member states, to
Israel was being advocated with the inescapable implication that a coalition of
most of the world's most powerful military nations, led by the self-designated
world's sole military superpower, would retaliate against Iran if it responded
to an Israeli first strike attack. As the U.S. stations hundreds of nuclear
warheads at NATO bases in Europe, including in Iran's neighbor Turkey, invoking
NATO's war clause could provoke a nuclear conflagration.
The nation was being promoted as the linchpin of a new Global NATO as now U.S.
ambassador to the Alliance Ivo Daalder openly proclaimed it.
In 2007 a Russian analyst warned of the consequences of the above developments:
"By admitting Israel Washington plans to use the alliance as an instrument for
exerting pressure on Arab states and strengthening its position in the
Middle East....Washington has no plans to restrict the expansion only by
admitting Israel. The alliance desires to attract India, Japan, Australia and
Singapore....The continuation of NATO expansion is undoubtedly an alarming and
dangerous idea that could split the world into groups of countries that oppose
each other....According to the NATO Charter, an attack on a member state is
considered as an aggression against all the members of the alliance [and] any
conflict of Israel with its neighbours could become a source of a large-scale
regional conflict that could turn into a global war." [39]
Undeterred by such grave considerations, even the threat of world war,
Washington, Brussels and Tel Aviv continued their joint military collaboration.
In April of 2007 six NATO warships - from Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain
and Turkey - docked in the Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat "for joint drills with
the navy's Red Sea Task Force." [40] NATO had in effect extended its
comprehensive Mediterranean Sea naval surveillance and interdiction operation,
Active Endeavor, to the Red Sea and would later establish a permanent presence
in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
"Six NATO frigates commanded by a Turkish admiral arrived...in Haifa for a
joint drill with Israeli Navy missile boats.
"Israel has been shoring up ties recently with NATO as part of preparations for
any future showdown with Iran." [41]
Following the signing of the Individual Cooperation Program (ICP) the preceding
November, in June NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and
Planning John Colston visited Israel and invited the nation to provide troops
for international Alliance missions. "We welcome very strongly the interest of
a whole range of partner nations in participating in NATO-led operations around
the world. There are currently seven to eight thousand troops from non-NATO
nations participating in missions and further such contributions are always
welcome." In Colson's words, troop and other contributions - presumably to
Afghanistan in the first case - would "fill the ICP framework with practical
cooperation."
The NATO official confirmed his organization's plans to "add Israel to NATO's
'operational capabilities concept' with the goal of creating better cooperation
between the militaries...that would lay the groundwork for potential Israeli
participation in NATO-led missions."
What such missions would entail was indicated by Colson's announcement that "We
agreed to share lessons from Afghanistan with Israel to gain and benefit from
one another." [42]
NATO Deputy Secretary-General Claudio Bisogniero visited Israel in October for
two days of meetings arranged by the Atlantic Forum of Israel. "Bisogniero and
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are set to address the second annual NATO Israel
Symposium at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya on Monday night, to be
followed the next day by a seminar on NATO's role in the Middle East," a follow
up to the 2006 two-day affair also addressed by Livni and by Bisogniero's
predecessor, Alessandro Minuto Rizzo. Bisogniero arrived only three weeks after
taking up his post and his trip marked the first anniversary of Israel's
Individual Cooperation Program with NATO.
The Atlantic Forum's Uzi Arad said of the event "There is an evolving process
of Israel and NATO drawing together. NATO is constantly transforming itself. As
it looks at its role outside of Europe and in the Middle East, it looks into
the prospect of closer Israel-NATO relations." [43]
The most significant comment at the symposium came from a (once and future)
Israeli head of state: "Addressing the Atlantic Forum's symposium in
Hertzliyah...former prime minister Netanyahu urged NATO to accept Israel as a
'full partner' by the year 2010." [44]
The next month the chiefs of general staff of Israel and Egypt (which followed
Israel in entering into an Individual Cooperation Program) participated in a
meeting of all 26 of their counterparts from NATO member states. In fact,
"Chiefs of Defence of more than 60 Countries together with NATO’s Supreme
Allied Commander for Operations and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for
Transformation attended, at various levels, the NATO Military Committee
Meetings." [45]
In December an Indian news source revealed more about NATO's increased
cooperation with Israel within the context of building an Asia-Pacific and
beyond that a Global NATO. "India will join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(Nato) countries, as well as Israel, Japan, Singapore, Australia and New
Zealand at the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in the United States in
June-July 2008 for the Red Flag wargames for the first time." [46]
Israeli warplanes also participated in the 2009 Red Flag exercises.
This came against the backdrop of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman (current Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Deputy Prime Minister), then past and future U.S. presidential candidates John
Edwards and Rudolph Giuliani, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar
and other major Western figures demanding full NATO membership for Israel.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who wrote two articles as far back as
2001 urging NATO to take over the Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank, in 2003
advocated that not only Israel but Egypt and (post-invasion) Iraq be welcomed
as NATO member states. Incidentally, Friedman's call for NATO to subjugate
Palestine was echoed in differing degrees by James Jones when he was U.S.
Special Envoy for Middle East Security and by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent
Scowcroft in 2008.
The Jerusalem Post wrote early in that year about Jones, previously supreme
commander of NATO and now the Obama administration's National Security Adviser,
that "The United States is reviewing the feasibility of deploying a NATO force
in the West Bank as a way to ease IDF security concerns....The plan, which is
being spearheaded by US Special Envoy to the region Gen. James Jones, is being
floated among European countries, which could be asked to contribute troops to
a West Bank multinational force. [47]
Another news source described the plan in franker terms: "James Jones, a former
Marine Corps general and NATO military commander from 2003-2005, has been
assigned the task of preparing a plan to take over the military
occupation of the Occupied Territories of Palestine on behalf of Israel's
security interests.
"The plan for the West Bank will try to draw from the experience made by the
deployment of the UNIFIL-forces, led by NATO-countries, but engaging
African and Asian troops as well in southern Lebanon." [48]
NATO plans reach far beyond contingencies for patrolling Israel's borders with
Gaza and the West Bank and even occupying and subjugating Palestinian
territories.
A former George H.W. Bush administration State Department official (in the
Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs), Bennett Ramberg, wrote an article for a
major U.S. newspaper almost two years ago bearing the title "An Israeli-NATO
pact." It presented a scenario for military confrontation with Iran and
overcoming Russian air defenses in that nation. The writer's suggestions
included:
"As NATO expanded its international reach beyond the European theater in recent
years, Israel´s association has become a matter of discussion in
Brussels....Israel´s integration into NATO, possibly with a separate American
security guarantee, would provide Israel with the defense in depth it has
yearned for....[S]hould the United States consent to provide F-22 stealth
fighter-bombers, Israel´s capacity will increase. Equally impressive are the
American-supplied bunker-buster bombs the aircraft may carry." [49]
In November of 2008 Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Gabi
Ashkenazi attended a NATO meeting in Brussels in which he "set out the
strategic threats to Israel and appeal[ed] for increased cooperation...."
Ashkenazi addressed the military chiefs of staff of all twenty six NATO states
at the time and "presented the various threats to the State of Israel, the
strategic challenges in the Middle East and the rise of global terrorism, as
well as the need for increased cooperation between Israel and NATO members in
order to confront the shared threats." [50]
The following month, December, with Israel's Operation Cast Lead assault on
Gaza only weeks away, NATO expanded and enhanced its Individual Cooperation
Program with Israel. "The agreement allows for an exchange of intelligence
information and security expertise on different subjects, an increase in the
number of joint Israel-NATO military exercises and further cooperation in the
fight against nuclear proliferation.
"It also paves the way for an improvement of collaboration in the fields of
rearmament and logistics and Israel's electronic link to the NATO system."
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Livni was present for the signing of the
pact and said, "Israel's security capabilities are a household name and we see
the strengthening of cooperation between Israel and the international security
body as a strategic objective that reinforces Israel.
"Israel is a power within the international index when it comes to the
army and its capabilities in the fight against terror; the whole world
recognizes this and the expansion of cooperation between Israel and NATO as it
was expressed this morning is important proof of this." [51]
On December 8 NATO hosted a delegation from the Atlantic Forum of Israel at its
headquarters in Brussels.
On December 27 Tel Aviv began its relentless attacks in Gaza, replete with
reports of the use of white phosphorous bombs and depleted uranium weaponry.
The president of the United Nations General Assembly at the time, Nicaragua's
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, criticized the offensive as a breach of
international law and said, "Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning
hell." [52]
A week and a half into the attacks a Russian news source wrote that "American
planners want to carry 3,000 tonnes of ammunition from the Greek port of
Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod" and "An even larger shipment of arms,
which included laser-guided bombs, arrived in December." [53]
In the middle of the assaults and carnage NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer arrived in Tel Aviv to deliver a speech to the Atlantic Forum
highlighted by his contention that "This is a new NATO." In a feature with that
title, Israel's Haaretz newspaper printed remarks by Scheffer which included:
"NATO has transformed to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. We have
built partnerships around the globe from Japan to Australia to Pakistan and, of
course, with the important countries of the Mediterranean and the Gulf."
"[The] Alliance is projecting stability in Afghanistan, in Kosovo, in the
Mediterranean (with Israeli support), and elsewhere - including fighting
pirates off the Somali coast - without in any way diluting our core task to
defend NATO member states and populations. Finally, we are looking at playing
new roles, as well, in energy security and cyber defence...."
"In 2005 and in 2006 Israel participated in two NATO military exercises. In
addition, the NATO-Israel Agreement on the Security of Information allows us to
share intelligence....In 2006 Israel decided to contribute to
NATO's...Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean...."
"Israel has been the first country to finalize with NATO, in October 2006, a
very detailed individual cooperation program, which had been revised and
upgraded last November." [54]
Scheffer met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Affairs
Minister Tzipi Livni, and Livni and Scheffer "discussed means of cooperation
between Israel and NATO with regard to the war on terror and methods of
preventing smuggling into the Gaza Strip" even as the fighting continued." [55]
Olmert assured Scheffer that "Israel stands behind NATO and fully supports its
struggle against terrorism, just as we expect that you will understand us in
our struggle against terrorism...." He also "discussed with him the situation
in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip since the beginning of Operation Cast
Lead." [56]
The NATO website reported that Scheffer also met with Israeli Defense Minister
Ehud Barak and now prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his Atlantic Forum
address he said, "Israel has been a most enthusiastic Mediterranean Dialogue
partner and that tells me that this country knows full well about the Dialogue
and about the benefits that it brings”. [57]
In March Livni returned the favor by flying to Brussels to meet with Scheffer.
The next month the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung office in Jerusalem released the
results of a study it commissioned on Israeli attitudes towards NATO
intervention in the Gaza Strip and full membership in the military bloc. Dr.
Lars Hansel, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Israel, was quoted by
the Jerusalem Post:
"[T]he German marines deployed on the Lebanese coast...are seen (by Israelis)
as a welcome development. We are clearly sensing a shift in discourse in Israel
about this." [58]
A poll conducted by an Israeli research group demonstrated how successful the
efforts of Uzi Arad's Atlantic Forum and its allies have been.
"[A] majority of respondents (54%) supported outright Israeli membership in
NATO (33% did not). Support rose to 60% when only Jewish responses were
counted. Almost two-thirds of Israeli Jews support sending NATO troops to the
West Bank in a peacekeeping capacity....Israeli Jews supported the presence of
NATO peacekeepers in Palestinian areas by 62 percent to 34%, the study found.
But that support was not shared among Israeli Arabs, who opposed the idea by
44% to 24%." [59]
As an indication that words may soon be translated into action, Haaretz wrote
last April that "The possibility of an Israeli attack against a nuclear
Iran...will be a test of the willingness of NATO's member states to implement
Article 5 of the treaty's convention...." [60]
An analysis published by China's Xinhua News Agency last July, "Israel pushes
for major upgrade in relations with NATO," stated "Reports in the Israeli media
this week suggest that Israel is looking forward to participation in several
key exercises and operations with NATO and individual NATO members during the
remainder of 2009.
"However, this seems to be only part of plans for a much broader gradual
integration into NATO by Israel."
It added "Some reports suggest Israel's desire to cooperate with NATO and to up
its operational exercises is Israel's further preparation for any attack on
Iran." [61]
The same news agency also reported in July that "the IAF [Israeli Air Force]
will take part later this year in a joint aerial exercise with a
NATO-member state, which is yet to be identified," quoting "Israeli defense
officials as saying that the overseas exercises would be used to drill long-
range maneuvers." The source also mentioned that "In 2007, Israeli warplanes
bombed a suspected nuclear site inside Syria.
"Last summer, over 100 IAF jets flew over Greece in an exercise widely seen as
a test-run for a potential air raid on Iran's nuclear facilities." [62]
Late last autumn as the U.S. and NATO prepared to increase troop strength in
Afghanistan to over 150,000, the full reciprocity and the geographical range of
Israeli-NATO military cooperation were revealed.
The Chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, paid a
two-day visit to Tel Aviv to meet with leaders of the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) and "to study the tactics and methods of the IDF" and "was studying the
IDF in order to gain a better understanding of how to deal with the ongoing war
in Afghanistan." [63]
A senior Israeli defense official spoke of a meeting between the head of
NATO's Military Committee and Israeli Chief of the General Staff
Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi: "The one thing on NATO's mind today is how
to win in Afghanistan. [Di Paola] was very impressed by the IDF, which is a
major source of information due to our operational experience."
Di Paola "noted that NATO and the IDF were facing similar threats - NATO in
Afghanistan and Israel in its war against Hamas and Hizbullah." [64]
Israel has trained Czech helicopter crews in a desert base for deployment to
Afghanistan and has supplied and offered its Heron drones to Canada, Germany
and other NATO states for the war in that nation.
As another portent of what Brussels and Tel Aviv are jointly anticipating - if
not planning - NATO sponsored a three-day course in Haifa in November that
provided "emergency management professionals with training on staff teaching
and preparation methods in the face of mass casualty situations.
"These situations include all emergencies causing a large number of casualties
that require special organisation and response by local, regional and national
medical and other services." [65]
Earlier in the month NATO's Supreme Allied Commander and U.S. European Command
chief Admiral James Stavridis arrived in the Israeli capital to meet with
"Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the Deputy Chief of the
General Staff, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Gantz and several other commanders. The
Admiral [was] accompanied by other EUCOM commanders." [66]
The occasion was the last day of the two-week Operation Juniper Cobra 10, the
most recent and by far the largest of biennial joint U.S.-Israeli military
exercises. Last year's was on an unparalleled scale, in fact the biggest-ever
joint war games between the two nations. 1,400 American troops and seventeen
warships participated in what is probably the most ambitious layered,
integrated missile defense exercises ever staged anywhere. [67] “An
unprecedented number of American generals, along with 1,400 U.S. army soldiers,
are participating with top IDF brass in the high-level Juniper Cobra military
exercise that one U.S. Navy commander said is aimed at ’specific threats.’” [68]
The unprecedented drills came shortly after the current U.S. administration
announced plans to cancel the ground-based midcourse missile project of
President George W. Bush in Eastern Europe in favor of what President Barack
Obama on September 17 affirmed were "stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses of
American forces and America's allies." Reports had surfaced earlier that the
U.S. and NATO were to abandon the project of basing ground-based interceptor
missiles in Poland and a complementary radar installation in the Czech Republic
and instead deploy far more mobile, often non-detectable missile interceptor
components to Israel, the Balkans, Turkey and the South Caucasus. [69]
Last year's Juniper Cobra exercises were the opening salvo for the new plan,
clearly prepared for long in advance.
The official purpose was to protect Israel from possible Iranian missile
attacks, but the truth is far different. More than a year before, the
Pentagon's European Command, whose top military commander is also NATO's
supreme commander, installed a missile shield radar base in Israel's Negev
Desert, near the host country's nuclear program at Dimona. The American Forward
Based X-Band Transportable Radar has a range of 2,900 miles [4,300 kilometers],
far more than what would be required for Iran but sufficient to cover all of
western and much of southern Russia.
120 U.S. military personnel were assigned to the base, the first foreign troops
to ever be stationed in Israel. Juniper Cobra was the testing phase for U.S.
global interceptor missile deployments in the Middle East and beyond. The new
American plans have been described by the White House and the Pentagon to be
fully integrated with NATO to encompass all of Europe, and Israel's role in
those designs is pivotal. Last autumn's U.S.-Israeli missile exercises helped
"the United States craft its European missile shield...Featuring in
the...maneuvers is Aegis, a U.S. Navy anti-missile system that the
administration of President Barack Obama plans to deploy in the eastern
Mediterranean as the first part of a missile shield for Europe announced last
month.” [70]
As a U.S. Army officer present for Juniper Cobra stated at the time, “On a
wider perspective, what the Americans learn from these complex exercises will
help shape a NATO defense shield for Europe.” [71]
Earlier this month Israel announced that it has successfully tested what it
calls its Iron Dome short- and medium-range anti-missile system, which consists
of the newly-developed Arrow 2 and David's Sling interceptor missiles. The
first Arrow "was deployed in 2000, and Israel and the United States have since
conducted a joint, biennial missile defense exercise, called Juniper Cobra, to
work on integrating the weapons, radars and other systems of the two
countries." [72]
Last May in the "first meeting of senior Israeli defense officials with the
Obama administration's new staff at the Pentagon," the Director General of
Israeli Ministry of Defense, General Pinchas Buhris, and American counterparts
in Washington, DC it was announced that the U.S. will fully fund a $100 million
advanced Arrow 3 missile defense system.
"Israel and the United States are also developing David's Sling - a missile
defense system for medium-range missile with a range between 70 and 250
kilometers. The Arrow 3 will be a longer-range version of the Arrow defense
system currently in IDF operation. It will be capable of intercepting incoming
enemy missiles at higher altitudes and farther away from Israel." [73]
In July the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency worked with Israel to test the
Arrow system at a U.S. range in the Pacific Ocean.
The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Army Lieutenant General Patrick
O'Reilly, said regarding the Pacific drills that "the test will allow Israel to
measure its advanced Arrow system against a target with a range of more than
620 miles (1,000 km), too long for previous Arrow test sites in the eastern
Mediterranean.
An unnamed U.S. Defense Department official was quoted by Reuters as saying
"The upcoming test...provides us the opportunity to have the Patriot system,
the THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] system and the Aegis system all
interacting with the Arrow system so that we're demonstrating full
interoperability as we execute this test." The same four interceptor missile
systems were used jointly in the Juniper Cobra exercises in October and
November. [74]
Other NATO states are also assisting the missile and general military buildup
for a potential catastrophe in the Middle East, most notably Germany, which
will double the amount of Dolphin submarines it has provided Israel. Dolphins
are considered capable of carrying Israeli nuclear cruise missiles for any
future conflict with Iran. "A bigger Dolphin fleet could allow Israel the
option of basing some in its Red Sea port of Eilat, providing a short-cut to
the Gulf. An Israeli submarine crossed the Suez Canal for an exercise off Eilat
last July, the first such deployment." [75]
On January 11 Haaretz wrote that "The U.S. Army will double the value of
emergency military equipment it stockpiles on Israeli soil, and Israel will be
allowed to use the U.S. ordnance in the event of a military emergency...."
Citing the U.S.-based Defense News, the Israeli newspaper added, "an agreement
reached between Washington and Jerusalem last month will bring the value of the
military gear to $800 million.
"This is the final phase of a process that began over a year ago to determine
the type and amount of U.S. weapons and ammunition to be stored in Israel, part
of an overarching American effort to stockpile weapons in areas in which its
army may need to operate while allowing American allies to make use of the
ordnance in emergencies."
It also revealed that "The deal allows Israel access to a wider spectrum of
military ordnance, and the U.S. [is] considering which forms of military
supplies would be added to stores in Israel. Missiles, armored vehicles, aerial
ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in the country." [76]
The U.S., Israel and NATO are preparing for momentous events in the Middle
East. They will not be peaceful ones.
1) Jerusalem Post, January 13, 2010
2) NATO's New Strategic Concept
http://www.nato.int/strategic-concept/roadmap-strategic-concept.html
3) Thousand Deadly Threats: Third Millennium NATO, Western Businesses
Collude On New Global Doctrine
Stop NATO, October 2, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/thousand-deadly-threats-third-millennium-nato-western-businesses-collude-on-new-global-doctrine
4) Jerusalem Post, January 13, 2010
5) Ibid
6) NATO In Persian Gulf: From Third World War To Istanbul
Stop NATO, February 6, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/nato-in-persian-gulf-from-third-world-war-to-istanbul
7) Jane's Defence Weekly, May 10, 2005
8) Ibid
9) Middle East Newsline, May 21, 2005
10) Makfax, April 21, 2005
11) Jane's Defence Weekly, May 12, 2005
12) Jane's Defense Weekly/Islamic Republic News Agency, June 28, 2005
13) Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2005
14) Jerusalem Post, July 22, 2005
15) http://www.atlantic-israel.org
16) Haaretz, March 20, 2009
17) Haaretz, March 31, 2009
18) Haaretz, March 20, 2009
19) Ibid
20) Ynetnews, February 1, 2006
21) Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2006
22) http://www.gmfus.org/publications/author.cfm?id=11
23) Washington Post, February 21, 2006
24) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3647/is_200502/ai_n11826505
25) Washington Post, May 23, 2004
26) Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 7, 2006
27) Agence France-Press, May 30, 2006
28) Israel National News, June 14, 2006
29) NATO, June 22, 2006
30) Jerusalem Post, June 26, 2006
31) Jerusalem Post, June 23, 2006
32) Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 27, 2006
33) Israel Today, October 17, 2006
34) NATO, October 24, 2006
35) Ibid
36) NATO, October 24, 2006
37) United Press International, October 26, 2006
38) Ibid
39) Eduard Sorokin, What Is Behind The US Plan For NATO Expansion?
Voice of Russia, September 25, 2007
40) Jerusalem Post, April 16, 2007
41) Jewish Telegraph Agency, April 1, 2008
42) Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2007
43) Jerusalem Post, October 22, 2007
44) Winnepeg Free Press, October 30, 2007
45) NATO, November 19, 2008
46) The Asian Age, December 20, 2007
47) Jerusalem Post, February 20, 2008
48) Arab Monitor, January 8, 2008
49) Washington Times, July 5, 2008
50) Agence France-Presse, November 18, 2008
51) Haaretz, December 2, 2008
52) Press TV, January 15, 2009
53) Russia Today, January 10, 2009
54) Haaretz, January 10, 2009
55) Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, January 11, 2009
56) Arutz Sheva, January 12, 2009
57) NATO, January 11, 2009
58) Jerusalem Post, April 22, 2009
59) Ibid
60) Haaretz, April 3, 2009
61) Xinhua News Agency, July 7, 2009
62) Xinhua News Agency, July 6, 2009
63) Israel Today, November 23, 2009
64) Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2009
65) NATO, November 16, 2009
66) Israeli Defense Forces, November 3, 2009
67) Israel: Forging NATO Missile Shield, Rehearsing War With Iran
Stop NATO, November 5, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/israel-forging-nato-missile-shield-rehearsing-war-with-iran
68) Arutz Sheva, November 3, 2009
69) U.S. Expands Global Missile Shield Into Middle East, Balkans
Stop NATO, September 11, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/u-s-expands-global-missile-shield-into-middle-east-balkans
Black Sea, Caucasus: U.S. Moves Missile Shield South And East
Stop NATO, September 19, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/283
70) Reuters, October 22, 2009
71) United Press International, October 30, 2009
72) Washington Post, September 19, 2009
73) Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2009
74) Reuters, July 14, 2009
75) Reuters, January 14, 2010
76) Haaretz, January 11, 2010
===========================
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