Earlier this year, several months before the escalation of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to join forces to stop Tehran's “attempts to circumvent” US sanctions against Iran's oil exports, and said Tel Aviv would be prepared to deploy its navy as necessary to help.
israel is providing assistance to the US-led naval coalition forming in the Persian Gulf, Foreign Minister israel Katz has said, speaking at a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee on Tuesday, Ynet News has reported.
According to the minister, Israel was giving the coalition assistance in intelligence and ‘other unspecified fields', with the mission expected to improve Tel Aviv's ties with the Gulf States.
In the briefing, Katz also reportedly said that he had met with an unnamed “high ranking persona” from the UAE recently to discuss the “Iranian threat,” with the two countries reaching “substantial agreements,” and the foreign minister instructing the ministry to include Israel in the US-led naval mission.
YNet News did not clarify whether Israel had plans to actually send warships to the Gulf, although Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, speculated last month that any Israeli assistance to the US coalition would likely be limited to intelligence sharing.
The Israeli Navy traditionally limits its operations to the…
