US’ Leading Force-Multiplier: The Israel Factor

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettiinger | “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” | August 27, 2026

Six Day War. An Israeli troop carrier on the east bank of the Suez Canal opposite Ismailia. By Government Press Office (Israel), CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

According to Prof. Walter Russell Mead, a leading historian of US foreign policy, “Israel did not grow strong because it had an American alliance. It acquired an American alliance because it had grown strong.”

*The $3.8bn annual US investment in Israel – misperceived as “foreign aid” – has provided Israel with advanced US-made military systems, bolstering Israel’s performance as the leading force-multiplier for the US (as detailed by the milestones below).

*Israel is the hub of research and development centers of some 250 US high tech giants, which has solidified their global superiority, bolstered US export and expanded US employment.  In addition, Israel has evolved into the biggest, self-manned, largely self-funded and cost-effective, battle-tested “US military base” with no combat US soldiers on the ground. The Israeli factor has amplified the US’ global posture of deterrence and constrained Chinese and Russian regional and global maneuverability, while enabling the US to minimize its military presence in the Middle East, which has never experienced intra-Muslim peaceful coexistence since the 7^th century. It has, also, upgraded the battle tactics of the US Armed Forces (e.g., the US Army’s intellectual center at Ft. Leavenworth, KS is highly impacted by Israel’s war and counter-terrorism experience), dramatically enhanced the productivityof the US’ defense and aerospace industries (e.g., mega-billions of dollars of saving in research and development, increased exports, and growing income tax revenues), and has deterred anti-US Islamic terrorism.

Milestones:

*During the 2025 and 2026 US wars against the Ayatollah regime – which has conducted a 47-year-war on the US irrespective of Israel’s existence – Israel has provided the US with strategic benefits, which no other ally could have provided.  Israel has operated as a technologically sophisticated regional ally, conducting complex intelligence, cyber, and air operations. It has been highlighted by disabling Iran’s air defenses and air force, which has minimized the threat to US soldiers and has reduced the need for US ground forces, enabling the US Air Force to bomb Iran’s three major nuclear facilities, unimpeded by Iran’s military. Israel’s human intelligence (HUMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) networks in Iran have provided CENTCOM and the CIA with critical operational data, reducing the US’ blind spots.

*Israel’s strikes exposed the vulnerabilities of Chinese, Russian and North Korean air defenses, combat aircraft, ballistic missiles and underground fortifications, which are deployed throughout the world.

*By systematically clobbering the Ayatollah proxies, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis and pro-Iranian terror organizations in Syria and Iraq, Israel has significantly degraded the Ayatollah’s threats to US military installations in the Middle East and reduced the existential threats to all pro-US Arab regimes.

*The 1981 Israeli destruction of Iraq’s nuclear reactor spared the US a potential nuclear confrontation during the 1991 Gulf War. It saved the pro-US oil-producing Arab regimes from the jaws of the pro-Russian Saddam Hussein.

*The 2007 Israeli destruction of the Syria-North Korea-Iran nuclear reactor, spared the region and the globe the consequences of nuclear capabilities in the hands of the pro-Russian “Butcher of Damascus” and a potential nuclearized civil war in Syria.

*The June 1967 Israeli military victory devastated the Soviet-supplied and Soviet-trained Egyptian military, which aimed to topple all pro-US Arab oil-producing regimes, at a time when the US was heavily dependent on Persian Gulf oil.  Israel’s victory discredited Soviet combat doctrines and equipment, generated vital intelligence on the principal adversary of the US, and spared the US a huge economic and national security setback. It also, denied the USSR a geo-strategic gold mine, and transferred to the US Israeli-captured Soviet military hardware – all at zero cost in US lives or treasure.

*Israel’s 1973 War provided the US real combat data of USSR vs. US military systems (e.g., surface-to-air and anti-tank missiles), supplying the US combat evidence it couldn’t get otherwise. These lessons were fed directly into the development of AirLand Battle doctrine, SEAD (suppression of enemy air defense) tactics, and TOW missile and armor upgrades that enhanced the US defense industries and Army doctrine. Just as in the 1967 precedent, instead of US forces having to fight Soviet-designed systems, in order to learn how they performed, Israel did the fighting and the US studied the results.

*In 1966 and 1989 Israel acquired MIG-21 and MIG-23 Soviet combat planes through defecting Iraqi and Syrian pilots. The planes were shared with the US, impacting the global balance of power, and enhancing the performance of the US Air Force and the US aerospace industry.

*In 1970, while the US was bogged down in Southeast Asia, Israel’s posture of deterrence forced a roll-back of the pro-Soviet Syrian invasion of pro-US Jordan with no exchange of fire. Thus, Israel denied Moscow a critical bonanza,while sparing the US the loss of an Arab ally, which could have triggered the toppling of pro-US oil-producing Arab regimes (when the US was heavily dependent upon Persian Gulf oil).

*Israel’s July 4, 1976 Entebbe Rescue Operation underscored Israel as a role model of pro-active, daring and innovative counter-terrorism, inspiring the US’ Delta Force and other US counter-terrorism forces.

*Israel’s October 1982 “Operation Mole Cricket 19” was the first time that a Western-equipped air force destroyed a Soviet-built surface-to-air missile network, eradicating 20 leading Soviet surface-to-air missile batteries operated by Syria, which were perceived to be impregnable. The Israeli battle tactics, including electronic warfare technologies, were shared with the US, bolstering its military edge over Moscow, serving (until today) as a cardinal element in the training program of US combat pilots.

The Bottom Line

*From the Cold War era until today, Israel has functioned as a forward strategic asset for US national security, combat-tested (against Russian, Chinese and Western military systems). Israel has provided a battle-tested laboratory for advanced US military systems, counterterrorism and missile defense testing ground, and intelligence collecting, with no presence of US combat troops.

*Israel has systematically provided the US strategic lessons that would otherwise have required a much greater US military exposure.

*Advancing US-Israel mutual interests in the face of mutual threats and challenges, Israel absorbs the military risk, provides the manpower, the intelligence burden and battlefield experimentation that the US otherwise might have had to undertake itself.

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