Tel Aviv: The Israeli ministry of defence is in high level talks with the US administration about future procurement of military systems.
Director General of Israel Ministry of Defence, Maj Gen (Res.) Eyal Zamir, arrived in Washington D.C., for high-level meetings with Pentagon, State Department, and White House officials.
As part of these meetings, Director General Zamir met with Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett H. McGurk; Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of Defence, Derek H. Chollet; and Counselor of the US Department of State, Tom Sullivan.
The Director General discussed with his US counterparts the advancement of immediate and long-term procurement processes to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region and support the ongoing war effort and the defence establishment’s immediate needs.
On behalf of Defence Minister Israel Katz and the defence establishment, he thanked senior US officials for standing alongside Israel, for the administration’s commitment to its security needs, and for supporting Israel with weapons and ammunition during the current war.
In the meetings, Maj Gen (Res.) Eyal Zamir presented Brett McGurk with a fragment of an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted by the Arrow system, which was jointly developed by Israel and the US. This was given as a token of appreciation for the strategic cooperation between the countries.
During the 14 months of war, the Israeli ministry of defence made unprecedented purchases from the US totaling more than $10 billion. The procurements included two squadrons of F-35 and F-15 aircraft, various types of ammunition, armoured vehicles, combat and protection equipment for soldiers, and more.
Additionally, the Director General thanked senior administration officials for the $8.7 billion US aid package, appropriated by Congress in April, whose implementation processes were completed in recent weeks. The package is intended to finance vital procurement for the IDF and strengthen Israel’s air defence systems – Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the high-power laser system, which is in advanced development stages.
The support for Israel, which intensified during the war, is an expression of the deep and long-standing strategic relationship between the countries and evidence of the US’s strong commitment to Israel’s security and ensuring its capabilities. This is in face of the threat from Iran and its supported terrorist organisations in the region.
The Director General is accompanied on the visit by the Defence Attache to the US, Maj Gen Hidai Zilberman, the head of the IMOD Mission to the US, Aviram Hasson, the IMOD Representative in Washington, Omer Haim, and other senior officials.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
