A festive ceremony on an Israeli Air Defense Command base drew no special attention. The Sept. 18 ceremony in the Negev desert dedicated a first of its kind in Israel’s history: a permanent American military base, to be staffed with dozens of uniformed American soldiers, within an Israeli air force base. It’s an open secret that the Americans have warehouses for ammunition and strategic equipment in Israel for emergency situations, but until now there were no real military bases. For the first time, the American military will have a physical foothold within Israeli territory.

“This is a historic day when we dedicate a base with our most important ally, the United States, here in the Negev,” said the commander of Israel's aerial defense at the ceremony, which was attended by American generals as well. Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich went on, “This is the first time a permanent American base is situated within one of our bases, and it proves the strategic commitment of the two militaries and two air defense commands. It is an important moment in the State of Israel’s air defense against high-trajectory fire that would attack us from far and near. And it adds to the capability that is growing year by year.”

This coming February, Israel and the United States will cooperate in the “Juniper Cobra” exercise, which takes place every two years — a strategic exercise of the two countries' joint air defense capabilities as well as radar systems and the identification and interception of ballistic and high-trajectory threats to Israel.

It all started at the end of the past decade: Sen. Mark Kirk, one of Israel’s biggest supporters in the US Congress, suggested situating in Israel the sophisticated X Band Radar, a defensive system that gives early warnings of missile strikes. To the surprise of decision-makers in Jerusalem, the US administration's Secretary of Defense Robert Gates quickly authorized the exceptional request and within two months, by September 2008, the huge radar system was built in the Negev. It includes two towers of sophisticated sensors, the tallest of their kind in the world.