For the U.S. military, going into combat alongside allies is nothing new. For Israel, it’s a novelty. But military leaders in both countries are speaking about their exceptionally close collaboration in their joint campaign against Iran.
Four days into the fighting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Israel’s military as an equal partner in the air assault on Iran.
“Fighting shoulder to shoulder with such a capable ally is a true force multiplier and a breath of fresh air,” he said.
Hundreds of people in Iran have been killed in the U.S.-Israeli strikes. The Iranian leadership has said it will not bow to the bombing campaign, as Persian Gulf countries, which themselves are U.S. allies, have announced multiple Iranian attacks on their territories.
Israel and the United States have carved up the airspace over Iran, officials from both countries say, with Israel attacking targets in western and central Iran and the United States attacking in the south.
Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in Israel, including the aircrews of dozens of fighter jets, soldiers operating air-defense weapons like the THAAD missile-defense system and soldiers managing logistics, jet fuel and ammunition, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Dozens of American air tankers — vital to Israel’s ability to maintain a continuous attack on targets more than 600 miles from its border — have been based at Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel’s largest international airport, which has been closed since the start of the war, the officials said.
Last June the United States sent B-2 bombers to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities at the end of the 12-day war. But this is the first time since Israel’s independence that it is fighting alongside an ally through the full course of a campaign.
A senior Israeli military official who briefed international journalists on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity said that as much as 70 percent of his own unit’s activities were being conducted in English, rather than Hebrew.
At a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that Adm. Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief who is overseeing U.S. forces in the fight with Iran, was speaking “routinely” with Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff. General Caine also said he himself had spoken with General Zamir several times since Saturday.
“That allows us to coordinate, integrate and synchronize activities, while maintaining separate efforts,” General Caine said.
Below the highest ranks, U.S. and Israeli officials say that coordination is occurring at every level in the chain of command, with 4,000 to 5,000 calls each day between the two militaries.
Unsurprisingly, Israeli leaders have praised President Trump and the U.S. military at every opportunity. But the plaudits are mutual.
At the Pentagon briefing, Mr. Hegseth called Israel a “steadfast partner” and said it compared favorably to other U.S. allies he did not name.
“Usually, it’s us, with some ancillary benefits from allies who are maybe willing, but not as capable,” Mr. Hegseth added. “When you have both the will and the capability of an ally that can really bring things to bear — we take certain targets, they take certain targets — and you coordinate it, it has incredible effects.”
The remark appeared to denigrate the contributions of European allies that have fought, and suffered casualties, as significant participants in U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.
The two countries have also divided up targets according to their function, with U.S. forces targeting Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles, which threaten American naval vessels and bases in the Gulf, and Israel prioritizing Iran’s long-range ballistic missile arsenal as well as targets associated with the Iranian government and internal security services, the U.S. and Israeli officials said.
Israel’s participation in the Pentagon’s Central Command, a result of a shift by the Pentagon five years ago has also allowed it to share intelligence with Arab countries in the Persian Gulf through that umbrella, though not directly, officials in both countries said. Israel was formerly in the European Command’s area of responsibility.
Israeli officers are embedded at Centcom bases on the East Coast of the United States, and U.S. military officers are embedded deep underground in the so-called pit at the Kirya, Israel’s Pentagon, in central Tel Aviv, alongside Israeli commanders, officials of both militaries said.
The coordination between Israel and the United States began weeks ago, the Israeli military official said in Wednesday’s briefing, when Admiral Cooper and General Zamir together drafted plans for an attack on Iran.
Planning in earnest for the attack began at the Pentagon about three weeks before Saturday’s strike, after it became clear at the political level that an attack would become necessary, two Israeli military officials said.
Two Israeli military officials also described a tactical deception to preserve the element of surprise: Several top generals made a show of going home to their families for Sabbath dinner on Friday night. But they then secretly headed back to the Kirya to oversee the final preparations for the attack the following morning.
David M. Halbfinger is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He also held that post from 2017 to 2021. He was the politics editor from 2021 to 2025.
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