US builds permanent military base in Israel

The United States established on Monday its first permanent military base in the heart of the Negev in Israel, local media reported.

According to the Israeli media, the military base is located inside the Israeli Air Force’s Mashabim Air Base, west of the towns of Dimona and Yerucham.

Brigadier General Tzvika Haimovitch, head of the Israeli Air Force’s Aerial Defence Command, said this demonstrates the “years-old alliance between the United States and the State of Israel.”

Israeli army sources said that cooperation between the Israeli Air Force and the US Army has been routine.

According to the Times of Israel, Haimovitch also said that this base “allows us to improve our defence in discovery and in interception and in preparedness.”

He added that the new air base, along with other recent improvements to Israel’s air defence programme, “will improve our abilities significantly. It will not get us to 100 per cent, but it will get us much closer to achieving important things during war.”