Jerusalem -The US military European Command said Sunday that the missile defense drill scheduled for April and canceled over the weekend would be held in late 2012.
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“We are going to be conducting the exercise in the second half of 2012,” explained Capt. John Ross, spokesman for the US European Command (EUCOM). “It is not unusual for such exercises to be postponed and leaders of both sides believe that the best participation of all units will be best achieved later in the year.”
Initially scheduled for April and called “Austere Challenge,” the drill was supposed to see the deployment of thousands of US troops and various sophisticated US missile defense systems in Israel.
The sides are currently in discussion about holding the drill towards the end of the year.
Earlier Sunday, senior Israeli defense officials said that Israel and the US had decided to cancel the massive missile defense drill amid concern that the exercise could lead to an escalation with Iran.
The drill was supposed to include the simulation of various missile defense scenarios with the objective of creating a high level of interoperability so that, if needed, US missile defense systems would be able to deploy in Israel and work with local defense systems during a future conflict.
The planned drill had raised tension in the region amid concern that Israel is planning an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in the near future, and therefore is bolstering its defenses together with the US.
In recent weeks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has led talks with the Pentagon about the possibility of canceling the drill and holding it at a later date.
Talks about postponing the drill took the Israel Air Force’s Defense Division, responsible for missile defense, by surprise. Just last Thursday, top IAF officers had said that the drill was scheduled for this spring.
This year’s drill was expected to be unique in its size and scope and also mark the first time that EUCOM commander, Adm. James Stavridis, would participate in the simulations. In the event of war, the EUCOM commander will be responsible for approving Israeli requests to deploy US missile defense systems in Israel.
Later this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz will fly to Brussels for a meeting of NATO military commanders and will return to Israel on Thursday to greet Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who will be arriving in Tel Aviv for his first official visit.
It was cancelled because Israel has a bigger problem now then Iran. Its called Chareidim.
you guys are really off base #1 and #2 stop knocking the Chareidim as the Left in Israel is just as demented as these extreme Chareidim the exception .
We are talking about the world Condemning Israel after the attacks on the nuclear reactors of Iraq and Syria only later to realize the merits of Israels actions. Israel has a right to defend itself without answering to anyone where its existence is at stake. Europe Caucasians will pay the price in 10-15 years for cajoling up to 21,000,000 million Islamist s while being complicit in the murder of 6,000,000 Jews during the Holocaust… KARMA revisited. yemach shemom to them both !
It was cancelled as an explicit warning to Israel to do precisely what the U.S. says in regard to Iran.
This is the reason it was canceled.
http://www.vinnews.com/98869/2012/01/15/jerusalem-netanyahu-deputy-disappointed-with-obama-on-iran#comments
Its Obama playing Chicago style politics.
Earlier this week, the U.S. sent Iran a letter. I am not a fly on the wall of the State Department, but I can imagine how it went:
Dear Ayatollah Khameini:
If your forces even make the slightest effort to disrupt shipping in the Persian Gulf, we will destroy any and all offensive military capability you might possess, including your nuclear facilities. Remember, it took the U.S. about 48 hours during Desert Storm to totally destroy Iraq’s offensive capabilities, and Iraq was more than a match for you.
Sincerely,
Hillary
Iran toned down its bellicose rhetoric a bit, and in return for this, the U.S. is postponing its joint war games with Israel.
You can be sure they’ll be back on again if Iran starts any monkey business.
its very possible. If the ultra orthodox jews in Eretz Yisroel will be deported to other countries, the State of Israel will loose all the Holy Zechusim that keeps them alive. So Chas Veshulem the Iran Gov. will harm the holy state. like it was when reb Eliezer Hamodoey was killed by Bar Kochve in Betar.