II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4978 

To require a study and report on a potential transfer of Israel to the 

area of responsibility of United States Central Command. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

WICKER, Mr. HAWLEY, and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require a study and report on a potential transfer of 

Israel to the area of responsibility of United States Central Command. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Israel CENTCOM Re5 classification Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON POTENTIAL TRANSFER OF 

2 ISRAEL TO AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY OF 

3 UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 

6 (1) Israel is a vital diplomatic, economic, and 

7 security partner of the United States. 

8 (2) The United States, Israel, and certain 

9 neighboring Arab countries cooperate on security 

10 matters to counter shared regional threats, such as 

11 Iran. 

12 (3) The normalization of ties between Israel 

13 and the United Arab Emirates, the normalization of 

14 ties between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain, 

15 and the announcement by Israel and Sudan that 

16 such countries will pursue the normalization of ties 

17 have dramatically changed the security environment 

18 in the Middle East in favor of peace and cooperation 

19 between Israel and neighboring Arab countries. 

20 (4) In assigning the geographic boundaries of 

21 unified combatant commands, the Unified Command 

22 Plan specifically requires the Chairman of the Joint 

23 Chiefs of Staff to consider ‘‘whether the current geo24 graphic boundary between the United States Central 

25 Command and European Command through the 

26 Middle East could create command conflicts in the 


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1 context of a major regional conflict in the Middle 

2 East region.’’. 

3 (5) The current placement of Israel within the 

4 area of responsibility of the United States European 

5 Command may not optimize coordination among the 

6 United States, Israel, and other partners in the Mid7 dle East on issues of regional security. 

8 (6) Efforts to improve coordination between the 

9 Israel Defense Forces and the United States Central 

10 Command are underway and have made meaningful 

11 progress in the past decade. 

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that the Secretary of Defense should consider oppor14 tunities to strengthen shared deterrence and foster deeper 

15 coordination between the United States and its allies and 

16 partners in the Middle East on vital defense activities, in17 cluding military operations, combined exercises, strategic 

18 planning, theater missile defense, and pre-positioning of 

19 United States weaponry in the region. 

20 (c) STUDY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall instruct 

22 the Joint Chiefs of Staff or one or more other ap23 propriate individuals to conduct a study on a poten24 tial transfer of Israel from the area of responsibility 

25 of the United States European Command to the 


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1 area of responsibility of the United States Central 

2 Command. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study required by para4 graph (1) shall include the following: 

5 (A) An overall assessment of the feasibility 

6 and advisability of transferring responsibility 

7 for Israel from the United States European 

8 Command to the United States Central Com9 mand, including any impact on the security of 

10 Israel and the operational, readiness, training, 

11 personnel, and budgetary implications for the 

12 United States. 

13 (B) An assessment of the advantages and 

14 disadvantages associated with such a transfer, 

15 including an evaluation of the necessary steps 

16 to ensure continuity of North Atlantic Treaty 

17 Organization activities with Israel and joint 

18 United States-Israel missile defense training 

19 and contingency planning. 

20 (C) An assessment of the advantages and 

21 disadvantages associated with retaining the sta22 tus quo. 

23 (D) Consideration of the views of the Min24 ister of Defense of Israel and the head of the 

25 Israel Defense Forces, including with respect to 


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1 the potential impact on the operations and 

2 readiness of Israel. 

3 (d) REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall submit to the Committee on Armed 

7 Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed 

8 Services of the House of Representatives a report on 

9 the results of the study conducted under subsection 

10 (c). 

11 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 

12 (1) shall be submitted in classified form together 

13 with an unclassified summary. 

Æ 


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