As CENTCOM sets up in southern Israel, fears grow of expanding US influence
CENTCOM's establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel has given Washington unprecedented control over Israeli actions in Gaza.
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time visited the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) for monitoring the Gaza ceasefire on Wednesday, meeting with US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Adm. Brad Cooper and the center’s director, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank. Underlying the bonhomie on display were Israeli concerns over the precedent-setting presence of a US military force in its heartland and the breadth of American involvement in Israeli military operations.
Roughly 200 US military personnel are currently stationed at the facility, CENTCOM said in an Oct. 21 statement.
Netanyahu the visitor
“I am happy to host our American friends here in Kiryat Gat,” Netanyahu said at CMCC, although he was clearly not the host at the US-run site, but a visitor himself.
