US CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir held their second meeting in a short period in the shadow of a possible Iran conflict, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
They had met on Saturday, showing “the personal connection between the commanders and the tight strategic connection between the IDF and the US military,” the IDF reported Sunday.
The meeting had demonstrated “strengthening the defensive cooperation between the two states,” it said.
While the official statement only announced the one meeting, the Post has learned that they met a few weeks ago, with no public announcement. Moreover, Cooper has been crisscrossing the Middle East in recent weeks as the potential conflict with Iran has heated up.
Close relationship between Zamir and Cooper
Zamir and Cooper have stayed in touch almost constantly during this period to coordinate a massive number of security issues, people familiar with the matter have said. The IDF statement on Sunday cited distinct areas of cooperation but did not mention the word “Iran.”
It has also been speculated that this “tight strategic connection” includes scenarios in which Israel might participate in a US attack on Iran, or at least could be helping the American military plan it, following Israel’s extremely successful attack on Iran last June.
The phrase “defensive cooperation” likely refers to the large number of US aerial, naval, and missile-defense assets, such as THAAD systems, which American media say have been moved either to Israel or nearby in the event that Iran fires ballistic missiles at it for the fourth time since April 2024.
Waiting on Trump's decision regarding Iran
Broadly speaking, much of the world has been waiting with bated breath since early January to see whether US President Donald Trump will use military force to intervene on behalf of the Iranian protesters.
According to reports, the Iranian regime slaughtered at least 5,000 protesters around January 8-9 and wounded tens of thousands.
One major factor is when the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its nine squadrons of aircraft will arrive in the operational zone.
By the end of last week, estimates were that it could arrive in a matter of days, with the exact timing potentially being kept a secret so as not to tip off Tehran. The carrier strike group includes Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with long-range Tomahawk attack missiles and the Aegis air-defense system, which could also help protect Israel.
F-15 aircraft have already flown into the area along with refueling planes, and new aircraft joining the fray are said to include American F-35s, F/A-18Es, EA-18G Growlers, helicopters, and other assets.
Publicly, Israel has said it would not attack Iran at this time, but if Tehran attacks Jerusalem first, it will face a massive counterattack.
Trump has kept observers guessing about whether he will attack massively, symbolically, or back off with some kind of deal.