Two months before the Palestinian resistance fighters attacked Israel, the Pentagon awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to build U.S. troop facilities for a secret base it maintains deep within Israel's Negev desert, just 20 miles from Gaza. Code-named "Site 512," the longstanding U.S. base is a radar facility that monitors the skies for missile attacks on Israel.
On October 7, however, when thousands of rockets were launched, Site 512 saw nothing because it is focused on Iran, more than 700 miles away.
The U.S. Army is quietly moving ahead with construction at Site 512, a classified base perched atop Mt. Har Qeren in the Negev, to include what government records describe as a "life support facility," which is military speak for barracks-like structures for personnel.
Though President Joe Biden and the White House insist that there are no plans to send U.S. troops to Israel amid its conflict with Palestinian resistance movements, a secret U.S. military presence in Israel already exists, and government contracts and budget documents suggest it is growing.
The $35.8 million U.S. troop facility, not publicly announced or previously reported, was referenced in an August 2 contract announcement by the Pentagon. Though the Defense Department has tried to obscure the site's true nature, budget documents reviewed by The Intercept reveal that it is part of Site 512.
This secrecy might be related to diplomatic or political reasons. Acknowledging the base may not be desirable due to the potential negative reactions it could generate in the Middle East. In the past, U.S. presidential administrations have attempted to offer a pretense of not siding with Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts.
It's worth noting that the U.S. military often employs euphemistic language to characterize facilities it wishes to conceal, such as describing them as "life support areas" or "cooperative security locations." Site 512 was established to contend with the threat posed by Iranian mid-range missiles, reflecting the U.S. government's focus on countering Iran's influence in the region.
While the existence of U.S. military facilities in Israel may have been kept under wraps, the U.S.-Israel relationship has seen an increasing willingness to publicly proclaim support for Israel in recent years.
