Add Israel to the Combined Maritime Forces and its Red Sea task force

Excerpt

Egypt took command of the multinational Combined Task Force 153 on Dec. 12 during a ceremony in Bahrain. The task force, which was established in April 2022, focuses on maritime security in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden. Egypt’s laudable new leadership of CTF 153 and the task force’s growing momentum will help secure vital waterways, while building partner capacity and enhancing cooperation among regional and international forces.

That’s more important than ever as Iran, its terror proxies and others continue to use the Red Sea to conduct illicit smuggling and disrupt international shipping. Expanding CTF 153 and its parent organization, the Combined Maritime Forces, to include countries such as Israel can help secure crucial sea lines of communication.

CMF is a U.S.-led naval partnership comprising 34 members, including Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. India, Djibouti, Kenya, and Oman are CMF partner nations. On average, there are six to eight vessels from contributing countries operating in support of the task force. Those efforts have already yielded results: A vessel operating in support of CTF 153 seized more than 2,500 kilograms of illegal drugs worth an estimated $20 million from a fishing vessel in November in the Gulf of Aden.

Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Ryan Brobst is a research analyst. Follow Brad on Twitter at @Brad_L_Bowman. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.