Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
A joint Israeli-American air defense exercise that was scheduled for next month is being postponed for a “variety of reasons,” the Israel Defense Forces says.
One of these reasons appears to be the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which is the current focus of the European-based American forces that were due to take part in the drill.
Recent weeks have seen major tensions as Russia appears poised to launch another offensive against Ukraine. The US has deployed additional soldiers to the region amid a military and diplomatic push to convince Moscow to call off the expected invasion.
A US V-22 Osprey takes part in a training exercise during the joint Israeli-US military Juniper Cobra air defense drill at the Tzeelim urban warfare training center in southern Israel on March 12, 2018. (Jack Guez/AFP)
The planned exercise, known as “Juniper Cobra,” is held by the IDF and the US military’s European Command every other year. The drill tests the ability of the US and Israel to respond to missile attacks, particularly the threat of long-range ballistic missiles, like those that are expected to be fired at Israel by Iran in a conflict between the two countries.
The Israeli military says the exercise will be held at a later date, “which will be announced soon.”
“IDF values and appreciates the close cooperation with the US military and expects to hold joint exercises in the future,” the military adds.
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