US Opens First Permanent Air Defense Military Base in Israel

The US have opened its first ever joint air defense military base in Israel.

The new facility touted to be in the southern Israel was announced during Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited US President Donald Trump in New York Monday.

"We inaugurated, with our partners from the United States army, an American base, for the first time in Israel," Brigadier General Tzvika Heimowitz, head of Israeli missile defences was quoted as saying by Times of Israel Wednesday.

Brig Gen Heimowitz did not comment on the specific role of the new joint base, but said the "few dozen" US personnel there would be under Israeli command.

"This is not part of an exercise or manoeuvre," he said. "It is a presence as part of the joint effort of Israel and the US to improve defence."

The establishment of a permanent US base in Israel “allows us to improve our defense, in discovery and in interception and in preparedness,” he said.

The “base within a base” will be run by the US military’s European Command (EUCOM). It includes barracks, offices and support services.

It is located not far from a US military radar installation east of Dimona that tracks ballistic missiles once they are launched and provides details on their flight paths to defense systems.