In a visit Monday to the USS George H.W. Bush – docked outside of Haifa after five months
of combat against the Islamic State -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likened
the state of Israel to a "mighty aircraft carrier" of the United States.
Speaking to reporters on the Nimitz-class carrier, Netanyahu hailed ongoing U.S.-led
coalition operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and indicated that Israel,
too, is contributing to the fight against a common enemy.
"We are both peace loving people, while we recognize that sometimes you need to fight
those enemies of peace, those that want to chop the head off our common societies…
This is what we do together," Netanyahu said.
"We are here on a mighty aircraft carrier of the United States and a few miles from
here, there is another mighty aircraft carrier of our common civilization – it's called
the State of Israel," Netanyahu said.
U.S. Navy Captain William Pennington, commanding officer of the USS George H.W. Bush, cited
U.S.-Israeli intelligence sharing and other forms of strategic cooperation going back
years.
"We are very tightly linked with our colleagues and partners and allies from the Israel Defense
Forces and have been for many, many years," he said.
He added, "There is a tremendous network of shared intelligence.
As you are aware, the airspace in this region is very, very busy with lots of different
actors, so the need to deconflict that and make sure that everyone understands their
mission is very, very important."
Commander James McCall, head of the carrier's air wing, said his forces have conducted about
1,600 sorties over the five-month deployment; an average of 20 to 25 "events" each day.
"This aircraft carrier and this air wing have been a large part of the war against
ISIS in the last five months.
We have conducted sustained operations as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, countering
ISIS in both Iraq and Syria," said McCall.
According to the air wing commander, whose forces downed a Syrian Su-22 fighter bomber
last month, which had been operating perilously close to U.S.-backed forces, there is "a
lot of tension" between rebel groups and pro-regime forces in parts of Syria.
He insisted that the Syrian fighter bomber ignored U.S. warnings, and that the shoot-down
was executed according to procedure in defense of U.S. and friendly forces.
"The Air Force warned the Syrian aircraft they were approaching coalition friendlies
and they ignored the warning and even dropped bombs on the friendlies," McCall said.
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