In the coming week or two, the IDF and the US military will move to strike Iran in a broad, systematic campaign. The operation involves thousands of targets to be struck by the Americans. "The goal is to crush all regime targets," IDF sources said. Israel will focus on western Iran; the US will handle the east. "There are a huge number of targets, and it will take us time," IDF sources added.
IDF sources said that immediately after Operation Rising Lion, a detailed after-action review process began. Maj. Gen. Hidai Zilberman, head of the IDF's Planning Directorate and a former IDF attaché in Washington, met with CENTCOM commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who took command several months ago. At that meeting, scenarios and updated intelligence were presented. IDF sources said that the shared understanding between both sides was that if either Israel or the US struck Iran, the Iranians would view that as justification to attack both Israel and the US together, and therefore, the conclusion was that it was better to prepare not only for joint defense, but for joint offensive operations as well.
Chief of Staff's Washington trip was critical to the operation
After that meeting, concrete joint planning began between the two militaries and continued for several weeks. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir's trip to the US and Washington was critical to this effort, IDF sources said – enabling the prospect of a joint war that starts together, continues together, and – the IDF hopes – ends together.
This is the first time Israel has fought a war alongside another country shoulder to shoulder – or more precisely, wing to wing. There are units within the IDF that now conduct roughly half their communications in English. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks with Vice Adm. Cooper once a day and with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine almost daily.
As of now, more than a thousand Americans are in Israel, and on both coasts there are joint coordination cells – for defense and for offense – that synchronize planning and real-time operations. The division of labor between the two militaries is geographic or by specific mission. Geographically, the IDF is responsible for handling the western and central surface-to-surface missile batteries firing at Israel, while the Americans handle the southern surface-to-surface missile batteries firing at them. It should be noted that the Iranians are firing different missiles at the Americans than those fired at Israel, with a range of 186–249 miles (300–400 km), and far more widely distributed across Iran than the longer-range missiles, which have a range of 932 miles (1,500 km) or more and are launched toward Israel.
Sometimes the division between the militaries is not geographic, and in those cases, advance coordination is conducted. In a handful of instances, US and Israeli fighter pilots have flown joint missions together.
Ben Gurion International Airport currently hosts dozens of American refueling aircraft. Across the entire Middle East, the Americans have a refueling force more than ten times the size of Israel's. As a result, American tankers have been refueling Israeli fighter jets. The Americans have tankers positioned along the entire continent, through Europe, enabling them to fly bombers from the continental United States. When the British granted them permission to take off from British territory – both from Diego Garcia and from British soil – Israeli officials noted that bomber sorties arriving from closer range would soon follow.
American air defense systems are also present in Israel, including THAAD and Aegis-equipped warships. Between 4,000 and 5,000 calls take place every 24 hours – from the chief of staff down through cockpits, air defense interceptors, technicians, and communications personnel – all coordinated with Americans. To avoid confusion over time zones, all communications are conducted on "Zulu time" (coordinated universal time, or UTC), not Israeli, American, or Iranian time. A situational assessment was held on Wednesday morning and was summed up in three words: "Stick to the plan."
Gulf states are one step away from joining the attack
Israeli officials said that some Gulf states have been actively operating against the Iranians, and that this trend is likely to intensify. The main challenge for these countries has been intercepting Iranian drones, not ballistic missiles. Some of these states have moved past the initial shock and shifted to a defensive footing, and are now one step away from launching offensive operations, Israeli officials said. Some will act symbolically – just to say they were part of it – while others are set to take an active role in strikes, after Iran fired hundreds of drones and hundreds of missiles at them. As of now, no one is putting a time limit on the fighting, Israeli officials said, and there are no signs of time constraints or any other constraints on the joint American-Israeli activity.
