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Israel Plays an Outsized Role in the Western World's Defense

(JNS) Lawrence Solomon - Israel devotes a larger proportion of its GDP to arms and security exports than any other country on Earth, and more than 80% supports the world's democracies. By acting as these democracies' armory and their intelligence shield, Israel plays an outsized role in the Western world's defense. Israel stands out because of its small size - all other major arms exporters have populations many times that of the Jewish state's 9.9 million. Almost half of Israel's arms exports support Asian countries that are threatened by China, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and India. The U.S., the world's second-largest democracy and until recently the largest purchaser of Israeli arms, also relies on Israeli innovations to improve the performance of its F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. The European democracies, which account for 35% of Israel's arms exports, want an Iron Dome missile defense system of their own. To date, 21 countries have joined their European Sky Shield Initiative, ESSI, which has at its heart Israel's Arrow 3 air-defense system. Finland just purchased the David's Sling defense system and the Baltic countries seek the Iron Dome. In the Middle East, Israel's military and its intelligence services work with America and other Western allies to neutralize threats from Iran and its proxies. Israel provided the U.S. with the intelligence needed to target Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. Israeli intelligence is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of American servicemen stationed in Iraq and Syria in 2020 and 2021 from Iranian attack. The late Sen. Daniel Inouye, a former chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said, "Israel's contribution to U.S. military intelligence is greater than all NATO countries combined." When Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Syria under Bashar Assad came close to acquiring nuclear weapons, and the U.S. refused to act against them, Israel destroyed their nuclear facilities. While the U.S. does more than any other country to support democracies, in proportion to the size of its economy, Israel contributes five times as much, with little fanfare and less recognition of its large role in thwarting the world's tyrannies. The writer is a columnist for Canada's National Post and a fellow of the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research.
2024-09-12 00:00:00
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