While Israel is not officially involved in the recent operations of the U.S Navy in the Arabian and the Red Sea, it is clear that the cooperation between the two navies is tighter than ever.
The October 2021 visit in Israel of V.-Adm. Charles B.Cooper, commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command’s (NAVCENT) 5th Fleet in Israel, was meant to give the final approval to a very close operational cooperation between the U.S Navy’s units in the Middle East and the Israeli Navy.
During the visit, Cooper met with Defence Minister Benny Gantz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Commander of the Israel Navy V.-Adm. David Saar Salama, and other high ranking officers of the Israeli Navy. Following the visit, V.-Adm. Salama described the Fifth fleet as an important partner of the Israeli Navy.
The increasing presence of the U.S Navy in the Red Sea comes in the wake of the Iranians, through their Houthi rebels proxy, increasing their activities in the main waterway, mainly by fast boats attacks and mines.
The Central Command of the United States Naval Forces, the Fifth Fleet, announced on its official Twitter account that the two naval minesweepers “USS Gladiator” (MCM 11) and “USS Sentry” (MCM 3) had crossed the Bab al-Mandab strait on October 18. This was the first time in seven years that U.S naval mine sweepers had entered the Red Sea. A few weeks ago, the UN Security Council warned of the dangers posed by the Houthi operations to shipping in the Red Sea.
On two prior occasions – Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020 – the U.S Navy seized shipments of Iranian-made weapon systems that were on their way from Iran to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, one of the most active proxies of Tehran. The weapons, which included 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles and land attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, were shipped by two Iranian ships in the Arabian Sea.
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, orchestrated the arms shipments, which were destined for Houthi militants in Yemen,” the U.S state department said.
The Red Sea now sees a much greater presence of Israeli Navy ships and the number is expected to go up as the threat posed to shipping in the waterway, by Iranian speed boats, manned and unmanned carrying explosives, grow. The presence of the Israeli Navy in the region is to deter Iran from any hostility against Israel.
In recent months, the Red Sea has seen some Iranian attacks on Israel owned cargo ships and some counter-attacks, allegedly by Israel. “It is clear that a real war is fought over and under the waters of the Red Sea” an Israeli source said.
According to former commander of the Israeli navy, Vice Admiral (Ret.) Eliezer Marom, the maritime threats posed by Iran are in the shape of commando operations “They don’t have real modern combat ships but they have developed a fleet of deadly manned and unmanned combat boats,” he said.
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