Where’s the Nearest Carrier?

Once again American history repeats itself. In the immediate aftermath of a horrific act that precipitated a declaration of war by Israel on the terrorist group Hamas, the President of the United States searched for options to prevent and deter any further expansion of the crisis. To this end, on October 8 US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, to proceed expeditiously to the Eastern Mediterranean theater of operations. The Ford is under operational command of the US Sixth Fleet—my alma mater. It was soon augmented by another carrier strike force, that of the USS Eisenhower – which joined it off the coast of Syria – providing a significant military presence on the eve of President Biden’s visit to Israel on October 18. Questions may well be raised as to the impact of this deployment on Israel’s traditional commitment to defend itself by itself. There are voices in Israel who worry about an American bear hug, aimed at restraining Israel’s actions against Hamas. But the immediate strategic effect to be achieved by the enhanced American presence is not to detract from Israel’s freedom of action, in response to the horrifying events of 7 October: it is to try and avoid, in close coordination with Israel, the expansion of the conflict (beyond Hezbollah’s ongoing pinprick attacks in the north), leaving Israel to concentrate on its task in Gaza. Whether the American presence, alongside the full positioning of Israeli ground forces in the north, would suffice still remains to be seen…