How the Pentagon can help Israel now

Following Hamas’ horrific terror attack on Israel this past Saturday, the Biden administration has moved quickly to send Israel weapons and strengthen U.S. military posture in the region. Those initial steps are laudable but not enough. With Israel preparing to launch a major ground incursion into Gaza and with the possibility that Hezbollah could open a major new front in the north, the United States would be wise to proactively provide Israel additional air defenses and weapons as soon as possible to augment what has already been sent or is in the pipeline for delivery.

Many Israelis are comparing the Hamas attack to some combination of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor . It is easy to see why in terms of the brutality and consequences of the attack. The actions of Hamas fighters clearly surprised Israel, and the tactics employed during the assault were straight out of the ISIS playbook, with reports of civilian executions and war crimes. As U.S. President Joe Biden said on Oct. 10: “This was an act of sheer evil.”

Hamas’ surprise terrorist attack and subsequent onslaught has claimed the lives of at least 1,200 Israelis . Israel’s losses would be equivalent to more than 40,000 Americans dying, in per capita terms; that is more than 13 times those lost on 9/11.

In response to Hamas’ terror attack, the United States is already providing weapons to Israel . A senior Pentagon official stated on Oct. 9 that the support “includes air defense and munitions” and that the Pentagon is “contacting U.S. industry to gain expedited shipment of pending Israeli orders for military equipment.” Bloomberg reported on Oct. 10 that a pending order of 1,000 Small Diameter Bombs was already picked up by an Israeli transport aircraft and that an additional sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions conversion kits, which convert unguided bombs into precision munitions, is being accelerated.

Those precision-guided munitions will help Israel precisely target terrorists while minimizing civilian casualties. Attempting to avoid inadvertent Palestinian civilian casualties is a vital but admittedly difficult task for the Israel Defense Forces, considering the dense urban environment of Gaza where Hamas and other terror groups frequently use Palestinian civilians as human shields .

In addition to the weapons Washington is sending Israel, U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday that the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. That augments other efforts to increase U.S. Air Force posture in the region, including F-15, F-16 and A-10 aircraft. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is heading toward the Middle East, too.

The current U.S. goal is to deter Iran and its largest terror proxy, Hezbollah, from opening a northern front against Israel so that the IDF can focus on operations in Gaza. Success or failure in deterring Iran and Hezbollah will depend on perceptions in Tehran regarding whether the United States means what it says and is willing to back up political statements with military action if warnings are ignored.

Regardless, prudence requires the United States to assume that deterrence could fail in the north and that any major Israeli ground incursion into Gaza could be long, difficult and resource-intensive.

Accordingly, as the first of two additional and urgent steps, the Biden administration should bolster Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. More than 5,000 rockets have been fired at Israel so far, and if Hezbollah joins the war, that number could be in the tens of thousands or even over 100,000. Large numbers of incoming rockets and missiles could overwhelm Israeli air defenses, deplete Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptors and result in major additional Israeli civilian casualties. Israel needs every interceptor and Iron Dome battery it can get its hands on.

Therefore, the Pentagon should provide Israel all of the U.S. Army’s Tamir interceptors from its two Iron Dome batteries, some of which the United States has already started to provide. The U.S. Army first acquired an Iron Dome battery in 2020 but has failed to make effective use of the systems. Washington should strongly consider providing Israel the two Iron Dome batteries themselves as well. This would provide valuable additional air defense capacity to Israel at no significant risk to U.S. military readiness.

Recognizing this reality, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Oct. 10, asking for such action. The letter was led by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and co-signed by Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.. The letter stated: “Immediately transferring these two Iron Dome batteries that are not in use to Israel would provide tangible, life-saving and sustained support to our ally as it faces rocket and missile salvos that threaten to overwhelm its defenses.”

As a second important step, the United States should immediately offer Israel full access to the War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel, or WRSA-I, that the Pentagon maintains in Israel. The stockpile includes weapons that would prove helpful to the IDF during its ground incursion into Gaza. The United States began to stockpile military equipment in Israel in 1984, and in 1989 it altered the terms of the stockpile to allow Israel access during emergency situations.

The Pentagon allowed Israel to withdraw equipment from WRSA-I during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. During the bilateral training exercise Juniper Falcon in February 2019, U.S. officers practiced the transfer of munitions from WRSA-I to the IDF. The Pentagon should immediately make the stockpile available to Israel, both for practical reasons and as an additional show of support for Israel.

Israel is suffering from the worst terrorist attack in its history. America’s closest ally in the Middle East needs Washington’s help. The Biden administration has responded with admirable clarity and speed since Saturday. But additional steps are needed — and fast.

Bradley Bowman is the senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Ryan Brobst is a senior research analyst.

继哈马斯上周六对以色列发动骇人听闻的恐怖袭击后，拜登政府迅速采取行动，向以色列提供武器并加强美国在该地区的军事部署。这些初步举措固然值得称赞，但远远不够。鉴于以色列正准备对加沙地带发动大规模地面入侵，且真主党有可能在北部开辟新的重要战线，美国明智的做法是尽快主动向以色列提供额外的防空系统和武器，以补充已交付或正在运送途中的武器装备。

许多以色列人将哈马斯袭击事件与9·11事件和珍珠港事件相提并论。考虑到袭击的残酷性和后果，这种比较不难理解。哈马斯武装分子的行动显然令以色列措手不及，而袭击中使用的战术则完全照搬了“伊斯兰国”的套路，据报道，袭击中发生了平民处决和战争罪行。正如美国总统乔·拜登在10月10日所说：“这是一起彻头彻尾的邪恶行径。”

哈马斯发动的突袭恐怖袭击及其随后的猛烈攻势已造成至少1200名以色列人丧生。按人均计算，以色列的损失相当于超过4万名美国人死亡；这一数字是9·11事件死亡人数的13倍多。

为应对哈马斯发动的恐怖袭击，美国已开始向以色列提供武器。一位五角大楼高级官员于10月9日表示，援助“包括防空系统和弹药”，五角大楼正在“联系美国工业界，以加快以色列待交付的军事装备订单的交付”。彭博社10月10日报道称，一架以色列运输机已接收了1000枚小直径炸弹的订单，同时，另一笔联合直接攻击弹药（JDMA）改装套件的销售也在加速进行，该套件可以将非制导炸弹改装成精确制导弹药。

这些精确制导武器将帮助以色列精准打击恐怖分子，同时最大限度地减少平民伤亡。考虑到加沙人口稠密的城市环境，哈马斯和其他恐怖组织经常利用巴勒斯坦平民作为人肉盾牌，因此，对于以色列国防军而言，避免造成巴勒斯坦平民的意外伤亡是一项至关重要但无疑十分艰巨的任务。

除了华盛顿向以色列提供的武器外，美国中央司令部周二宣布，“杰拉尔德·R·福特”号航母打击群已抵达东地中海。此举进一步加强了美国空军在该地区的其他部署，包括F-15、F-16和A-10战机。“德怀特·D·艾森豪威尔”号航母打击群也正前往中东。

美国当前的目标是阻止伊朗及其最大的恐怖代理人真主党在北部开辟针对以色列的战线，以便以色列国防军能够集中精力在加沙地带开展军事行动。能否成功阻止伊朗和真主党，取决于德黑兰方面对美国言行一致的认知，以及美国是否愿意在警告被忽视的情况下以军事行动来支持其政治声明。

无论如何，谨慎的做法要求美国假定威慑在北部可能会失败，并且任何以色列对加沙的大规模地面入侵都可能是漫长、困难且耗费资源的。

因此，作为两项紧急措施中的第一步，拜登政府应加强以色列的“铁穹”防空系统。迄今为止，已有超过5000枚火箭弹射向以色列，如果真主党加入战争，这一数字可能达到数万枚，甚至超过10万枚。大量来袭的火箭弹和导弹可能使以色列防空系统不堪重负，耗尽“铁穹”的“塔米尔”拦截弹，并造成更多以色列平民伤亡。以色列需要尽可能多的拦截弹和“铁穹”系统。

因此，五角大楼应向以色列提供美国陆军两套“铁穹”防御系统中的全部“塔米尔”拦截导弹，其中一部分美国已经开始提供。美国陆军于2020年首次采购了一套“铁穹”防御系统，但未能有效利用该系统。华盛顿应认真考虑向以色列提供这两套“铁穹”防御系统本身。这将为以色列提供宝贵的额外防空能力，而不会对美国的军事战备造成重大风险。

鉴于此，一个由两党参议员组成的小组于10月10日致信国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀，要求采取此类行动。这封信由内华达州民主党参议员杰基·罗森牵头，并由南达科他州共和党参议员迈克·朗兹、纽约州民主党参议员克尔斯滕·吉利布兰德和佛罗里达州共和党参议员里克·斯科特联署。信中指出：“立即将这两套未使用的‘铁穹’防御系统移交给以色列，将为我们的盟友提供切实有效的、挽救生命的、持续的支持，因为以色列正面临着火箭弹和导弹齐射的威胁，这些攻击有可能突破其防御系统。”

作为第二项重要举措，美国应立即允许以色列全面使用五角大楼在以色列境内维护的“盟军-以色列战争储备库”（WRSA-I）。该储备库包含一些武器，这些武器在以色列国防军地面入侵加沙地带的行动中将发挥重要作用。美国于1984年开始在以色列储备军事装备，并于1989年修改了储备条款，允许以色列在紧急情况下使用这些装备。

五角大楼在2006年第二次黎巴嫩战争和2014年加沙“护刃行动”期间允许以色列从WRSA-I基地撤出装备。在2019年2月举行的“杜松猎鹰”双边联合训练演习中，美军军官演练了将弹药从WRSA-I基地转移给以色列国防军的流程。五角大楼应立即向以色列提供这批库存，这既是出于实际考虑，也是对以色列的进一步支持。

以色列正遭受其历史上最严重的恐怖袭击。美国​​在中东最亲密的盟友需要华盛顿的帮助。自周六以来，拜登政府的反应清晰迅速，令人钦佩。但仍需采取更多措施，而且必须尽快。

布拉德利·鲍曼是保卫民主基金会军事和政治力量中心的高级主任，瑞安·布罗布斯特是该中心的高级研究分析师。