Israel, France Hold Joint Air Force Drill Over Mediterranean

Israel and France concluded the Eastern Breeze drill, a joint aerial exercise over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday. The aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, the flagship of the French Navy, arrived in the Mediterranean Sea carrying four Dassault Rafale aircraft, the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli and French aircrews practiced joint strikes and maneuvers to counter aerial threats and improve readiness in an exercise that the Israeli military said was “an important milestone” in the strategic cooperation between the two Mediterranean countries. The Israeli military’s training programs include several international exercises; Eastern Breeze comes just a week after US and Israeli forces completed a large-scale exercise simulating strikes on the Iranian nuclear program.