The “bulletproof commitment” between Israel and the United States of America is still very much alive. This Sunday, the Department of Defense led by Lloyd Austin decided to offer the Tel Aviv authorities a sophisticated air defense system, THAAD, which will protect Israeli skies from ballistic missiles. “It is part of broader agreements the US military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias.”

Israel already has one of the most powerful air defense systems in the world: the Iron Dome. It was largely what allowed the country to defend itself against Iranian attacks in April and earlier this month. However, the United States considers it necessary to “strengthen Tel Aviv’s air defenses”, so they sent not only the THAAD, but also more us army to Israeli territory.

As the Department of Defense highlighted, this “is not the first time this has happened.” In 2019, the US already sent a THAAD air defense system and it is also common practice to send US military personnel to Israeli territory. However, this ad appears in a different context. Following the Iran attacks in early October, Israel prepares to retaliate against its greatest geopolitical enemy, although it is not yet known when. In this context, Washington is trying to mediate the situation to avoid escalation and, especially, stop the start of a regional war in the Middle East.

An Israeli attack against Iran is imminent and is expected to affect infrastructure linked to the oil or energy sector, as well as military objectives. Apparently, Iranian nuclear facilities will be left out, which would motivate a forceful response from Tehran and harsh retaliation. Although the places where Iran is developing its nuclear plan are out of the equation, the deployment of the air defense system shows that the United States fears possible Iranian revenge after an attack by Israel.

Despite some tensions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the United States of America Joe Biden have maintained throughout the last year of conflict, Washington continues to support Tel Aviv almost unlimitedly. Nothing seems to stand in the way of the two allies. However, in Europe, several countries are beginning to question several decisions made by the Israeli government and raise questions about the actions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Lebanon.

Does unlimited North American support diminish or increase escalation?

American support has been a constant since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, which was surrounded by hostile Muslim countries. The conflicts lasted several decades and with different antagonists, who were improving their offensive capabilities to attack Israeli territory. In 2006, during the second war in Lebanon, Israel, always with the support of the United States, invested in strengthening the country’s defense. The two allies developed a radar threat detection system. that, as soon as it detects the launch of a rocketIt sends all the information in real time to a control center, where calculations are made that automatically determine the estimated location of its impact.

Fully operational since 2011, Iron Dome remains a armor against air attacks by Israel’s enemies. Even so, the United States has now decided to reinforce the protection of Israeli skies by sending the THAAD air defense system, which can attack targets between 150 and 200 kilometers away. There will also be more soldiers, who will join those who had already been mobilized to Israeli territory at the end of September.

However, the US military presence does not prevent Hezbollah attacks, nor the intensification of Israeli attacks in Lebanon. In recent days, the Israel Defense Forces even attacked military bases run by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), after Benjamin Netanyahu asked the blue helmets to withdraw from some bases in the south. of Lebanese territory.

In a telephone conversation with Yoav Gallant on Saturday, Lloyd Austin expressed his “deep concern” about what happened. The Secretary of Defense reminded his Israeli counterpart that it is “necessary to guarantee the security of UNIFIL forces.” This type of criticism multiplied throughout the last part of the conflict and frustrated the White House on several occasions. As journalist Bob Woodward wrote in the book War, Joe Biden even insulted Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Son of a bitch”, “bad boy” and “liar”: book reveals tension between Biden and Netanyahu

Even so, nothing seems to stop Israel in the way how to conduct war in Gaza since October 7 and now in Lebanon. And sending American weapons and troops could even encourage a more forceful response by the Israel Defense Forces. According to the New York Times, there are senior officials in the North American Department of Defense who carry out this analysis.

In other words, some senior Pentagon officials believe that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is being encouraged by the American presence in the Middle East. If Iran retaliates against attacks on the Lebanese militia it helped found, Tel Aviv knows that American support counts. “There is enough presence in the region that if the Iranians intervene, [os norte-americanos] support the defense of Israel. While planning militarily, [Israel] I want to take advantage of this [o armamento norte-americano]”Dana Stroul, former head of the Department of Defense for Middle East policy, explains to the New York Times.

Therefore, the North American presence in the region may be increasing its escalation in the Middle East. Grant tacit support to Israel, The United States gives Israel the possibility of expanding its offensive operation in Lebanonwithout fearing a response from Iran, which knows that, if it retaliates, it will have to fight two very powerful enemies.

Europe criticizes Israel more openly

In Europe, criticism of Israel has been keenly felt, mainly due to the attacks on UNIFIL. And they come from all political backgrounds. For example, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, considered that the Israeli army’s shooting at the blue helmets was “unacceptable.” “The UNIFIL headquarters and two Italian bases were hit by fire from Israeli forces.. “This is not acceptable and violates the provisions.”highlighted the head of the Executive. Rome’s diplomacy even summoned the Israeli ambassador to explain what happened.

The Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, also condemned that the UN military “could be intentional targets” of the Israeli incursion into that territory. “This is unacceptable and deserves strong condemnation.” He criticized and added that this is an “issue that endangers the safety of the Lebanese population and the soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.”

The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, raised his tone and called for an embargo on the sale of weapons to Israel. Quite critical of the actions of the IDF throughout the conflict and being one of the main promoters of the recognition of the State of Palestine in Europe, the socialist stated that it was “urgent” that, “in light of everything that is happening in Middle East, the international community Let’s stop exporting weapons to Israel.”

Along the same lines, another leader who defended an embargo on arms sales to Israel was the French president. Emmanuel Macron considers that the “priority” is to “return to a political solution” to stop the conflicts in the Middle East, and that the weapons delivered to Tel Aviv are complicating the situation in the Middle East. However, the Head of State was harshly criticized for his statements, even by members of the centrist coalition, of which he is the main face.

But if Europe has criticized Israel’s actions, the The United States is more lukewarm in sentencing and they do not even put on the table stopping selling weapons to one of their biggest allies. And in the future it should be no different, even when Joe Biden leaves the White House. The candidates for the presidential elections, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, equally support the defense of Israel and the embargo on the sale of arms is completely removed.