TEL AVIV: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday declared an enduring and ironclad American commitment to Israel, reinforcing support at a tense time in Israeli politics and amid questions about the Biden administration’s efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with Israel’s archenemy, Iran.

Austin’s first talks in Israel since he became Pentagon chief in January come as the United States seeks to leverage Middle East diplomatic progress made by the Trump administration, which brokered a deal normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states.

After meeting with Defence Minister Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, Austin said he had reaffirmed our commitment to Israel is enduring and ironclad.” Austin made no mention of Iran. Gantz, in his own remarks while standing beside Austin, said his country views the United States as a full partner against threats, not the least, Iran. Neither official took questions from reporters.

The Tehran of today presents a strategic threat to international security, the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel, Gantz said in his prepared statement. We will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will security the vital interests of the world and of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region and protect the state of Israel.

Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Austin’s visit is important in part because it is the first by a member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet.

They want to show that they did come here with clean hands and they want to listen, Guzansky said. They want to listen to Israel’s worries and perhaps other partners’ worries about the negotiation about Iran.

Austin is steeped in the finer points of Middle East defence and security issues. He served four years as head of US Central Command, capping a 41-year Army career that included commanding US forces in Iraq.

Flying overnight from Washington, Austin arrived in Tel Aviv in the tense aftermath of the country’s fourth inconclusive election in the past two years. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin last week gave embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the difficult task of trying to form a new government.

The key backdrop to Austins visit is the Israeli governments concern about the Biden administration’s attempt to work out an arrangement to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal, which in Israel’s view is fatally flawed. Netanyahu has for years described Iran as an existential threat to his nation due to Iran’s alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapon and its support for groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Netanyahu, leading a state with its own secret nuclear weapons programme, has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons to use with its ballistic missiles. Iran has maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful. Netanyahu has also kept up his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal, which, if followed, strictly limits Tehran’s ability to enrich and stockpile uranium, blocking it from being able to make a weapon.

History has taught us that deals like this, with extremist regimes like this, are worth nothing, Netanyahu said last week.

By coincidence or not, Austin’s arrived as Iran reported that its underground Natanz nuclear facility lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster. If Israel caused the blackout, it would further heighten tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East.

Last week, an Iranian ship said to be acting as a Revolutionary Guard base off the coast of Yemen was struck by an explosion. Iran blamed Israel for the blast.

In addition to repeated assurances by Republican and Democratic administrations that the United States will endeavour to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge over its regional adversaries, Washington for years has invested heavily in helping Israel develop missile defence technologies.

Iron Dome is one of the most-touted successes in Israel missile defence. It is a mobile anti-rocket system developed to intercept short-range unguided rockets. It has shot down more than 2,000 projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip since it was deployed a decade ago. The US Army recently bought two Iron Dome batteries at the request of Congress to counter cruise missiles.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2021