A contract announcement from the US Department of Defense reveals Washington is expanding an unacknowledged military base in Israel’s Negev desert 20 miles from Gaza.
As the death toll climbs amidst Israeli military action in Gaza, the United States has repeatedly denied any intention of sending American troops to assist their Middle Eastern ally. But information recently released by the Pentagon shows the US is nevertheless investing significantly in an unacknowledged military base in Israel’s Negev desert.
The report, posted in August on the Pentagon’s website, reveals over $35 million in funds being granted to a Colorado-based firm for a “life-support area,” to house military personnel. The construction is to take place at Site 512, a classified base with an expansive view of the surrounding territory from atop Mount Har Qeren.
“Sometimes something is treated as an official secret not in the hope that an adversary would never find out about it but rather [because] the US government, for diplomatic or political reasons, does not want to officially acknowledge it,” said Paul Pillar, a former CIA analyst asked for comment about the revelation. The United States’ support for Israel has long damaged the country’s reputation throughout the Arab world.
“My speculation is that the secrecy is a holdover from when US presidential administrations tried to offer a pretense of not siding with Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts,” agreed David Vine, a professor of anthropology. “The announcement of US military bases in Israel in recent years likely reflects the dropping of that pretense and a desire to more publicly proclaim support for Israel.”
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The United States has made similar moves in recent years to more openly back Israel, such as when former US President Donald Trump announced in 2018 the United States would be moving their embassy in the country to Jerusalem.
The pronouncement was highly controversial as the city possesses religious importance for both Jews and Muslims. Israel sees Jerusalem as the capital of Israeli territory, unparalleled in its historical significance.
Meanwhile, proposals for a Palestinian state have suggested making the Eastern portion of the city the capital of Palestine. The move of the embassy was interpreted by Palestinians as confirmation of a lack of genuine interest in solving the longstanding impasse between Jews and Arabs in Israel.
Trump moved rapidly to negotiate diplomatic normalization between Israel and several Middle Eastern countries; US President Joe Biden was working to establish normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia until recent violence sidetracked the process.
Analysts say an installation such as Site 512 would be focused primarily on monitoring attacks from Israel’s neighbors, chiefly Iran, rather than observing rocket launches from Gaza.
The United States has long been Israel’s closest ally, providing the country with billions in assistance each year. Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement that inspired Israel’s founding, specifically referred to a proposed Jewish state in the region as a “colonial” project and “garrison state” for the West in the Arab world.
Common justifications for Israel as an outpost for democracy and liberal governance in the Middle East mirror similar rhetoric used by neoconservatives to justify wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world.
