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Dear Friend of Israel,

This week, the U.S. Army announced it will deploy Iron Dome to U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf.

Deploying the Iron Dome helps protect American troops and is a further strengthening of the U.S.-Israel defense partnership. 

You played a critical role through your support of AIPAC and our work together to help ensure Israel can develop this remarkable, lifesaving system.

Congress has appropriated a total of $1.6 billion for missile defense cooperation since 2011, including $500 million for 2021.

Below are more key stories from the week affecting our work.

Best,
Brian Shankman
Director of Regional Affairs and Development

In an opinion piece, Amos Yadlin, Executive Director of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and the former head of military intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, and Ebtesam al-Ketbi, Founder and President of the Emirates Policy Center and a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Consultative Commission, analyze why returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement would be a major strategic blunder, and lay out what they believe a future deal with Iran should look like.

Yadlin and al-Ketbi believe that a two-stage approach is necessary, first consisting of "an interim agreement (JCPOA minus) that is more limited than the original nuclear deal" and following with "an agreement that surpasses the original and closes its loopholes (JCPOA plus)."

"The principal components of the first, interim deal would be to de-escalate tension, put Iran’s nuclear activity on pause, and withhold enough concessions to give Iran an incentive to enter another round of nuclear talks," the two describe, and the second "should focus on reining in Iran’s nuclear program to the greatest extent possible."

In addition to pursuing this two-stage approach, Yadlin and al-Ketbi stress that America and Israel’s governments must work together closely, and coordinate efforts with their regional allies.

Iran plans to install an additional 1,000 advanced centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility—Iran's primary nuclear enrichment plant—in the next three months, the regime announced Thursday.

This announcement comes a day after Tehran announced that it had exceeded its quantity goals for production of 20 percent enriched uranium.

The United States must not succumb to Iran's nuclear blackmail and pursue diplomacy with Tehran while maintaining pressure.
 

Israel is an ally we can depend on to improve our healthcare and fight the COVID pandemic.

As of January 27, five weeks after its initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Israel has distributed the first dose of the vaccine to over 32 percent of its population, with 16 percent of Israelis completely inoculated.

With the highest per capita vaccination rate in the world, Israel’s rapid deployment strategy has been embraced by some countries and early vaccine efficacy data suggests a rapid drop in infection after one shot.  

• Fewer than 0.01 percent of people who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine have contracted the virus more than a week after receiving the second dose, Israeli HMO Maccabi said.


• Experts believe Israel will have achieved 80 percent immunity for its at-risk population by February and vaccinated 95 percent of its at-risk population by March. 

This week, several U.S. administration officials held conversations with their Israeli government counterparts.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi had their first call together on Thursday.

• "Our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct, and I look forward to working with the Foreign Minister and others toward our common goals," Secretary Blinken tweeted.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Defense Minister Benny Gantz also spoke on Thursday.

• "The U.S. is committed to Israel's Qualitative Military Edge and to enhancing our close bilateral cooperation," Secretary Austin said.

Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie arrived in Israel on Thursday, in the first official trip by a high-level American official to Israel since President Biden's inauguration.