Reinforcing Israel’s military edge and bolstering security relationships with neighbors such as Egypt are both U.S. priorities, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said.
Speaking May 9 to the annual Soref Symposium at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hagel described his recent visit to Israel and the Mideast, his first since assuming the defense secretary post in February.
“Beyond rocket and missile defense cooperation, [the Department of Defense] has been working for more than a year to increase Israel’s ability to confront and respond to a range of other threats,” Hagel said.
The efforts culminated, he said, in last month’s announcement that the United States would release new equipment to Israel, including “anti-radiation missiles and more effective radars for its fleet of fighter jets,
KC-135 refueling aircraft and the V-22 Osprey.”
Hagel also outlined U.S. defense sales to Israel’s neighbors, and said that these too serve the Israeli-U.S. alliance. He called the relationship with Egypt “among the most important of these relationships.” — jta