The 2012 US–Israel military defense drill, codenamed Austere Challenge 12, was a military exercise between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, an ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, that took place in late October 2012.

History

The joint exercises were expected to test Israeli and American air defense systems, particularly Israel's

ballistic missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear weapon, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic mi ...

against incoming missiles and rockets. A EUCOM commander would be responsible for approving Israeli requests to deploy US missile defense systems in Israel. Senior

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and Israeli defense officials discussed the possibility of postponing the exercise to late 2012. On January 13, 2012, it was postponed to October. Capt. John Ross, spokesman for the

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territori ...

, said "It is not unusual for such exercises to be postponed, and leaders of both sides believe that the best participation of all units will be best achieved later in the year." Israeli military officials said the U.S government requested to delay the drill so as "not to heighten tensions" with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Security officials have also said the decision was partially related to budgetary concerns. A day prior to the cancellation, senior IAF officers said the drill was scheduled for Spring. The exercise is also expected to be the first time the EUCOM commander James Stavridis will participate in a multilateral drill with Israel. Israel's foreign minister

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...

said "diplomatic and regional reasons, the tensions and instability" were factors in delaying the exercise.

Mark Regev Mark Regev (; born 1960) is an Australian-Israeli diplomat, government advisor and civil servant. Between June 2020 and April 2021, he served as the Prime Minister's Senior Advisor for Foreign Affairs and International Communications. From 2016 ...

, the spokesman for Israeli prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

said Israel and the United States made the decision to delay the exercise "because it was not the right time.” Although a report in August alleged that the number of troops involved was being reduced from 5,000 to about 1,000, in order to reduce the perception that the exercise was a cover for an attack on Iran, it was later reported that the size of the drill and the number of troops participating had not changed. Brigadier General Nitzan Nuriel, said that the matter was one "of logistics," and that the number of troops had hardly changed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012 US-Israel military exercise Military exercises involving the United States Missile defense Israel–United States military relations 2012 in military history Military exercises involving Israel

History

See also

References