President Trump has ordered that the large US military command for the Middle East be expanded to include Israel, in a last-minute reorganization of the US defense structure that pro-Israel groups have long supported, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The move means the US Central Command will oversee US military policy involving both Israel and the Arab nations, a deviation from decades of US military command structure implemented because of acrimony between Israel and some of the Pentagon’s Arab allies.
It is the latest in a series of Trump administration policy moves to shape the national security agenda that President-elect Joe Biden will inherit. The change was recently commissioned by Mr. Trump, but has not yet been made public. A transitional Biden official declined to comment on the move.
American military responsibility for Israel had long been assigned to its European command. The agreement allowed American generals in the Middle East to interact with the Arab states without having a close association with Israel, which at the time was seen as an adversary in the Arab world.
Following the Abraham Accords that led to the normalization of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, pro-Israel groups have stepped up efforts for Central Command to take responsibility for military operations and plan for Israel’s involvement to encourage greater cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors.