TEL AVIV: A US general proposed yesterday that Israel upgrade its anti-missile systems to include neighbouring Jordan and possibly Egypt, and an Israeli official cautiously welcomed the idea.
The two Arab countries that have full peace treaties with the Jewish state share some of its concern regarding the disputed nuclear programme of Iran and the civil war wracking Syria — both states with long-range missile arsenals.
Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba is also under threat from short-range rockets fired by Islamist militants in Egyptian Sinai.
Brigadier-General John Shapland, chief defence attache for the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, raised the idea of extending Israel’s anti-missile umbrella in comments to a security conference in the city.
“If we were able to build a regional defence capability in, say, Jordan, that capability could easily defend Israel, Jordan and even Egypt, if you so desired, adding one more layer to your multi-layered defence,” he told Israeli officials and experts gathered at the INSS think-tank.
Shapland, whose country has extensively underwritten Israel’s two deployed missile interceptors as well as others in the works, and allowed their integration with US counterpart systems, said his proposal was “just one idea to consider”.
Yair Ramati, head of the Israel Missile Defence Organisation, appeared open to the idea. “The policy of the (Israeli) Defence Ministry is always to cooperate with the countries of the region, including the countries cited,” Ramati said at the conference, in reference to Jordan and Egypt.
Jordanian officials and a spokesman for the Egyptian embassy declined immediate comment. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994.
Reuters
