10th bi-annual US-Israel Juniper Cobra joint exercise kicks off
Another joint American-IDF drill cancelled over fears of the coronavirus; Homefront Command holds missile barrage drill in schools across the country
By ANNA AHRONHEIMLarge-scale missile defense drill comes amid spike in tensions between Israel and her enemies; Homefront Command holds missile barrage drill in schools across the country(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The 10th bi-annual Juniper Cobra exercise between the IDF and the United States Europe Command began Tuesday, with hundreds of US troops landing in Israel to take part.The drill is taking place from March 3 to March 13, and will be the largest IDF and EUCOM joint exercise taking place this year, with more than 2,500 US troops participating in several different locations – in Israel, Europe and the United States. Some 600 US troops, who arrived in Israel in recent weeks, will be training in Israel alongside a thousand Israeli Air Defense troops, logistics units, medical forces and additional IDF units.“The objectives of the exercise are to strengthen cooperation, coordination and mutual learning between the two armies, as well as to improve the capability to defend against missile threats, and joint air defense,” the IDF said.The exercise will simulate a scenario in which American forces will be deployed to Israel to work alongside the IDF’s air defense. The troops will practice scenarios of missile threats in various sectors, and the simulations will include the use of the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 missile-defense systems, advanced versions of the Iron Dome, the David Sling system as well as a ballistic image management center, in collaboration with the Home Front Command.While the 600 American troops were deployed to Israel as part of Juniper Cobra, the US military and IDF called off a joint exercise over concerns of the new coronavirus.The Eagle Genesis exercise between the IDF’s Ground Forces and EUCOM troops to train against regional threats was canceled, and more than 60 US personnel who had traveled to Israel returned to their bases on Friday, at the request of the Israeli government.A US military official told CNN that the drill was canceled “out of an abundance of caution” despite none of the American troops, including paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Italy, having been reported ill.The Health Ministry has included Italy on the list of countries from which people arriving in the country must be quarantined.Also on Tuesday, the Home Front Command, in collaboration with the Education Ministry and local authorities, held a security drill simulating a missile attack at schools around the country.As part of the drill, which examined the competence and maintenance of institutions’ bomb shelters, all students practiced getting into protected spaces during recess time at 10:05 a.m.
The military said it would publish the results of the leading regional authorities and schools in the field of emergency preparedness.While the military contends that the drills are part of scheduled exercises and are not related to the high tensions with Iran on Israel’s northern border, an intelligence assessment found that the threat posed by Iran – including its nuclear and ballistic missile program – is the number one priority for the IDF.Iran, which possesses more than a thousand short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, is suspected of continuing to smuggle weapons to countries and non-state actors such as Hezbollah, which is said to have an arsenal of between 100,000 and 150,000 missiles, and to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Washington and Jerusalem have signed an agreement that would see the US come to assist Israel with missile defense in times of war, and in March, EUCOM deployed a THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system in Israel as part of a month-long joint drill between the two allies.During the drill, the THAAD system, which is considered one of the most advanced systems of its kind in the world, was added to the existing Israeli air-defense systems, which defend against long-range ballistic missiles, giving the IDF an opportunity to practice its integration in the IAF’s Air Defense Array.
