With war raging in the Middle East, we want to bring you as many trusted voices on the news as we can. One such voice is the Israeli journalist Amit Segal. He writes a daily newsletter, It’s Noon in Israel, which we’re pleased to publish in The Free Press.
Israel has invited the United States to relocate some of its regional bases from countries such as Qatar to Israel. But that raises a question: Why are the U.S. regional headquarters in a country that actively sponsors terrorism?
It’s a relatively recent development. For decades, Saudi Arabia served as the U.S.’s regional headquarters. It was from there—not Qatar—that the U.S. assembled forces and ultimately launched the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait. After 9/11 and the Iraq War, the U.S. sought a country with fewer political constraints and a location that would recruit fewer jihadists by being farther from Islam’s two holiest sites. Qatar fit the bill: no political complications, billions of dollars in subsidies, and the ready-to-use Al Udeid Air Base.
Now, more than 20 years later, Israel is positioning itself as the U.S.’s new home away from home in the region. The Israeli security establishment sees an opportunity to “reshape the map” of U.S. military positioning in the Middle East, reports Israel’s Channel 12.
There are several advantages to this move. For one, Israel has the strongest air defense systems in the region. The New York Times reported Wednesday that missile attacks on Qatar have forced “many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region,” with much of the land-based military “fighting the war while working remotely, with the exception of fighter pilots and crews operating and maintaining warplanes and conducting strikes.” Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) haven’t missed a day of work.
