2012 US–Israel military exercise

[2] A EUCOM commander would be responsible for approving Israeli requests to deploy US missile defense systems in Israel.

Israeli military officials said the U.S government requested to delay the drill so as "not to heighten tensions" with Iran.

The exercise is also expected to be the first time the EUCOM commander James Stavridis will participate in a multilateral drill with Israel.

[3] Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said "diplomatic and regional reasons, the tensions and instability" were factors in delaying the exercise.

Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States made the decision to delay the exercise "because it was not the right time.”[6] Although a report in August alleged that the number of troops involved was being reduced from 5,000 to about 1,000, in order to reduce the perception that the exercise was a cover for an attack on Iran,[7] it was later reported that the size of the drill and the number of troops participating had not changed.