On November 29, 1983, a memorandum of agreement was set up between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

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regarding political, military and economic cooperation. Part of the agreement was for a Joint Political Military Group (JPMG) as a high-level planning forum to discuss and implement combined planning, joint exercises, and logistics.The Evolution of Strategic Cooperation
''jewishvirtuallibrary.org'' The JPMG is co-chaired by the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S.

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

. The JPMG meets biannually, alternating between Israel and the United States. The JPMG was originally intended to discuss means of countering

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

involvement in the

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. But more recently the concern has been over the spread of chemical weapons and ballistic missiles.

History

Military relations between the United States and Israel improved under the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

. The Reagan Administration sought to build an "anti-Soviet strategic consensus in the Middle East." At the time, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Israeli Minister of Defense

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

signed a memorandum of understanding in 1981 "establishing a framework for continued consultation and cooperation to enhance"

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

. This agreement led to the establishment of the Joint Political Military Group, which has since met regularly to "address" foreign military sales to Israel, joint exercises and simulations, and logistical arrangements. Joint air and sea exercises started in 1984.

Present status

As part of the agreement, the United States and Israel meet twice a year to honor the obligations of the memorandum of understanding. In 2001 an annual "inter-agency strategic dialogue" including representatives from all areas of defense and intelligence was created.

References

Israel Defense Forces United States Department of Defense agencies Israel–United States relations {{US-mil-stub