"In a rapidly changing strategic environment, Israeli policy makers are recognising definite advantages, especially in security affairs, in developing closer ties with NATO. The present Israeli government's enthusiasm for this project can be seen in an ambitious set of proposals submitted to the Alliance," which included "joint military training [and] future joint development of weapons systems." [11]
In June "The Israeli navy participated for the first time in a NATO submarine exercise in the Gulf of Taranto off the Italian coast," Sorbet Royal 2005. "Israel was seeking to extend its strategic alliance with NATO beyond what is offered to its Mediterranean cooperation group, even up to full membership of NATO." [12]
According to an Israeli account before the war games began, "14 nations and about 2,000 forces are to spend the next three weeks hunting for four submarines resting on the ocean floor...." [13]
In July of 2005 Israeli ground troops participated in a NATO military exercise for the first time, a 22-nation training mission in Ukraine that lasted for two and a half weeks. "The drill dealt mainly with antiterrorism combat and low-intensity conflict, but it also symbolized an increasing participation of Israeli forces in NATO."
Israeli Colonel Alon Friedman said on the occasion that "There have been senior commanders who have gone to NATO events as well as consultants, but never combatants like this." The Jerusalem Post reported that "Friedman said he was not privy to the diplomatic moves to get the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] more involved in NATO, but he understood the initiative came from NATO." [14]
By the following year the level of collaboration between the world's sole military bloc and Israel had increased further. A column appeared at an Israeli news site on February 1 called "Is Israel headed for NATO?" authored by Uzi Arad. Arad established the Atlantic Forum of Israel in 2004 and still chairs the organization. The Atlantic Forum is the main vehicle for promoting NATO-Israel integration on the Israeli side. It's website, currently under construction, features a Star of David side-by-side with the NATO symbol. [15]
Uzi Arad has an interesting biography, both before and after the founding of the Atlantic Forum. He was the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 1997-1999 "on secondment from the Mossad, in which he served for more than two decades, culminating in his tenure as Director of Research (Intelligence)." [16] He has also been Advisor to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Complications developed last year when was "designated to become chairman of the National Security Council under Netanyahu," but "The press in Washington...reported that Arad had been refused permission to enter the country" [17] because of "his alleged contacts with Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who has been convicted of passing information to Israel." [18] By the end of last March the Obama administration nevertheless approved his visa application for discussions in Washington on Iran.
An Israeli newspaper described his major project: "Working closely with NATO, the Atlantic Forum of Israel seeks to promote and enhance Israel's relations and standing with the Atlantic Alliance and has played an important role in advancing this relationship." [19]
In the aforementioned article of Arad's in February of 2006 he wrote "For the past two years, cooperation between Israel and NATO has become closer, to a certain degree both on a multilateral level, within the Mediterranean Dialogue, and on a bilateral level, directly with NATO."
He added that "Last year, Israeli Ambassador [to the European Union in Brussels and envoy to NATO] Oded Eran submitted an official proposal for increasing cooperation, and since the visit of NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to Israel last June, NATO and Israel have been negotiating over completing the multilateral cooperation plan.
"Israel consented, and announced its willingness to participate in Operation Active Endeavor, which is being conducted in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the alliance's counter-terrorism effort. It also took part in three military exercises and hosted a conference of air force commanders from NATO and its partners." [20]
A feature in the Wall Street Journal a few days after Arad's article appeared, "NATO, Israel Draw Closer," quoted Arad as asserting: "The only thing worse than Israel being a member of NATO may be Israel not
being a member of NATO." It also mentioned another prime mover in fostering the Israel-NATO nexus, one on the U.S. (and European) end. "Ronald Asmus, a senior State Department official during the Clinton administration who is credited by Mr. Arad with being an 'intellectual godfather' of closer NATO-Israel links, says arguments against membership remind him of the initial opposition to NATO enlargement to former Soviet bloc states or the alliance assuming its first missions beyond Europe." [21]
The German Marshall Fund of the United States website provides this background information on Asmus:
"Dr. Asmus is currently Executive Director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Center and responsible for Strategic Planning at the German Marshall Fund of the US.
"[He was] Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1997-2000 and has been a senior analyst and fellow at Radio Free Europe, RAND and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been a pioneering voice in the debate over post-Cold War European security and NATO's transformation. He has published widely and is the author of Opening Nato's Door.
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