Biden updates US congressional leaders on deployment of anti-missile system to Israel

US President Joe Biden updates congressional leaders on the US military response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel at the beginning of the month.

“Consistent with our longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and our public indication of our continuing efforts to protect Israel from Iranian and Iranian-aligned threats, I am reporting to you the posture of United States military forces to aid in Israel’s defense against these attacks and any further such attacks,” Biden writes in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The president explains that the US has adjusted its military posture in recent months by dispatching the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, along with its destroyer escorts and carrier air wing that is equipped with F-35C Lightning II Fifth Generation Fighters, to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Additionally, the US has deployed additional destroyers, including some capable of defending against ballistic missile attacks; the guided-missile submarine USS Georgia; the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group; multiple fighter and attack squadrons of fourth and fifth generation fighters, including F-22, F-15E and F-16; as well as A-10 Attack aircraft and other forces.

“United States forces will remain postured in the region to serve important national interests, including the protection of United States persons and property from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias, and to continue to support the defense of Israel, to which our commitment remains ironclad,” Biden says.

“In this context, I directed the deployment to Israel of a ballistic missile defense system and United States service members capable of operating it to defend against any further ballistic missile attacks while this defensive posture is deemed warranted,” the president adds, referring to the THAAD missile defense system.

The update is largely a formality, and the information has already been publicized, but the letter is sent two days after the Biden administration informed Israel that its continued receipt of security assistance is at risk if major steps aren’t taken to relieve the once-again-worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.