Seven months ago, Israel and the United States
postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go
forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on
Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October,
and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election.
But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries
have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S.
participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops
going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile
interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.
“Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust
you,’” a senior Israeli military official tells TIME.
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