Israel’s strategic posture vis a vis the US is that of the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require a single American on board, cannot be sunk, and is deployed in a most critical area. And there is much more. Analysis.
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger is author of “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”
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*The 12-day-offensive by Israel’s Air Force against the anti-US Ayatollah regime has reenforced Israel’s strategic posture as the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require a single American on board, cannot be sunk, and deployed in a most critical area. This area is the epicenter of anti-US Islamic terrorism, the region of 48% of global oil reserves and the intersection of critical shipping routes. This strategic posture has spared the US the need to manufacture, deploy and maintain a few more real aircraft carriers to the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, along with a few ground divisions, which would have cost the US taxpayer $15bn-$20bn annually to manufacturer, deploy and maintain.
*The Israeli air and ground offensive against the anti-US Ayatollah regime cleared the way for the unprecedent US bombing of three critical Iranian nuclear installations by obliterating Iran’s air defense radars and missiles, demolishing Iran’s Air Force, eliminating critical Iranian military leaders, and dismantling Iran’s Internet and command and control systems.
*The June 13, 2025 Israeli air offensive against Iran was one of the more complex air force offensives since WW2, featuring 200 US-made combat aircraft, destroying 1,100 Iranian targets, 1,100 miles away from Israel. This operation highlighted Israel as a unique Triple-A store/showroom for the US aerospace industries, attracting the attention of potential buyers to the superiority of the US-made F-35, F-16 and F-15 over Russian, Chinese, British, French, Italian and Swedish competitors, which do not have a similar Triple-A store/showroom.
*The 12-day-offensive underscored the role of Israel as the battle-testedlaboratory andinnovation center of the US defense industries and armed forces. Thus, the Israeli operation – just like the systematic Israeli use of a few hundred US defense products – has yielded a multitude of technological, maintenance and repair lessons. These lessons have been integrated as upgrades into the next generation of the US products, saving the US defense industries 10-20 years of research and development, costing mega billion of dollars.
This enhances competitiveness in the global market, increasing exports, expanding the US employment base, while bolstering the battle tactics of the US armed forces. The keen interest by the US Air Force to hold a multitude of joint maneuvers with Israel’s Air Force attests to the added-value derived by the US Air Force from the interaction with the uniquely experienced Israeli combat pilots.
*Game-changing battle tactics – such as radar suppression, demolishing and jamming air defense systems, disabling surface-to-air missile batteries – have already been shared with the US Air Force, as were the lessons of the ground-breaking June 1982 Israeli Air Force destruction of 20 Soviet-made Syrian surface to air missile batteries, while downing 82 Soviet Migs, which still impacts the US Air Force training and operation.
The Israeli battle experience has enriched the US battle tactics and training program of US combat pilots and ground forces (e.g., counter terrorism, special operations and urban warfare), who rarely experience do-or-die type of assignments.
*Israel has evolved into a unique research and development center for the US defense industries. Israel has, also, been significant for some 250 US high tech giants of the commercial industries in the areas of agriculture, medicine, pharmaceuticals, automotive, computer software, electronics, telecommunications, fin tech, Internet, etc. (e.g., John Deere, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Texas Instruments, Intel, Nvidia, General Motors, Microsoft, AT&T, IBM, Dell, Apple, Google, Facebook, Intuit, etc.).
The US has leveraged Israel’s brain power, the defiance-of-odds spirit and the can-do mentality, in order to sustain its global lead.
*Israel’s 12-day-offensive has enhancedIsrael’s and the US’posture of deterrence in the face of anti-US Shiite and Sunni terrorism, which are mandated by their 1,400-year-old vision to bringing “The Great American Satan” to submission. Israel’s offensive has weakened Iran, decreasing the lethal threat to all pro-US Arab regimes, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and Morrocco, all of which have had the machetes of the Ayatollahs and the Moslem Brotherhood at their throats.
Moreover, undermining the strategic posture of the Ayatollah regime has reduced the incentive of some of the Latin American governments (the US’ soft underbelly) collaborate with Iran against the US.
*The bottom line: The June 2025 Israeli Air Force offensive has highlighted the reality of the annual $3.8bn extended to Israel (to purchase US military systems!), which does NOT constitute “foreign aid.” On the contrary, this is an annual USinvestment in an immensely grateful Israel, yielding to the US a few hundred percent annualReturn-on-Investment (R-o-I). Furthermore, this is the most productive and secure US investment in Israel, which is a unique force and dollar multiplier for the US, underlying the mutually beneficial US-Israel two-way-street.
