U.S-Israel Cooperation  

Last month, a unit of U.S. Marines visited the National Center for Urban Warfare Training in Israel and conducted a joint exercise with special forces units from Israel's Givati Brigade. The three-day exercise focused on urban warfare and the two militaries learned from each other's operational experience. 

The U.S. Navy and the Israeli Navy participated in Reliant Mermaid 103, a joint, ten-day search-and-rescue exercise that took place in early August. The Mediterranean-based activity involved a guided-missile destroyer from the U.S. 6th Fleet and missile boats from the Israel Navy.

Earlier this month, the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock ship, arrived at Haifa for a routine port visit. Alluding to the many visits by U.S. Navy ships to Haifa, Captain Dykes explained that "if you have been here, you know what a great country Israel is" and that "our sailors and marines will have a great time."

As an example of how cooperation between the United States and Israel occurs at all levels of law enforcement, an Arizona-based bomb squad team visited Israel to learn improved techniques and tactics from their Israeli counterparts.

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Missile Defense

The IDF deployed its sixth Iron Dome battery last month, the first to be operated solely by a reserve unit. Six more batteries are expected to come online over the next two years.

In early September, Israel and the United States completed a successful test of the Silver Sparrow target missile over the eastern Mediterranean. Developed by Rafael, the Silver Sparrow is the most advanced version of the Sparrow missile family and is meant to simulate a long-range Iranian Shihab-3 ballistic missile. The Arrow 3 Super Green Pine Radar successfully tracked the missile and transferred the information to the Citron Tree Battle Management Control System. Although the test raised concerns in the region due to ongoing tensions surrounding Syria, it had been planned long in advance.

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Levant Watch

The Obama Administration, unable to rally European allies or Congress to support punitive, limited air strikes against the Syrian regime's chemical weapons sites, embraced a Russian proposal to turn over Syrian chemical weapons to international control by mid-2014. Following the Assad regime's chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people on August 21. 

As a result of the continued shelling of Israeli communities in the Golan, the IDF has intermittently fired Tamuz surface-to-surface missiles at the source of fire in Syria. Syrian rebel groups and Assad regime forces continue to battle each other right on the Israeli border.

Meanwhile, four rockets landed near Nahariya, Israel at the end of August. While the incident appeared to be a one-off strike by a Lebanese jihadi group, Israeli jets bombed a terror site north  of Sidon. The Iron Dome system intercepted one of the rockets, although two evaded the system and landed in populated areas. There were no casualties.

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Turkey Watch

Concerned by the unending Syrian civil war, Turkey is building a new military base on top of Kel Mountain, near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia. This week, Turkish jets shot down a Syrian government helicopter that had strayed across the border.

Ankara is undertaking a broad and ambitious effort to join the ranks of countries capable of orbital launches by 2023. As part of the effort, Turkey is working to develop an anti-missile capability, a long-range offensive missile capability, and to construct the country's first satellite launch center.

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