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Re: Is the U.S. Helping Israel Prepare for War?

| @eottolenghi 09.29.2008 - 9:48 AM

Blogging on the announced US permanent deployment of a radar station in the Negev, Abe Greenwald correctly notes that it is not necessarily just a case of the U.S. helping Israel prepare for war but also, possibly, a case of the US telling Israel to show restraint while sending the Iranians the clear message that Israel may be unleashed, sooner or later. I agree with Abe that this may be the case. But knowing that the U.S. wants to reassure Israel and at the same time restrain it does not address another concern: the U.S., once it has deployed radar to monitor incoming threats, can also use it to monitor outgoing activities. It may be an additional layer of defensive tools for Israel – but it could also be a warning to the Jewish state no less than to the Iranians: we are now watching all that you are doing – please don’t surprise us with some unexpected and rash action. We’ll know about it before you’d like us to. And that is not exactly the kindest message from ally to ally.

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