Israel’s Search for a Used B-52

The war with Iran proves once again the importance for Israel to have an American strategic bomber as part of the Israeli Air Force's aircraft arsenal.

By Michael Oren

The war with Iran proves once again the importance for Israel to have an American strategic bomber as part of the Israeli Air Force's aircraft arsenal. Twice, in 2013, during my tenure as Ambassador in Washington, and later, as a Member of Knesset in 2018, I asked the United States to sell us a strategic bomber. I understood that the U.S. would not be willing to sell us one of their advanced B-1 or B-2 stealth aircraft, but I hoped that they would be willing to part with a Cold War era B-52.

The reason for my initiative was simple. Some day, I knew, Israel would act to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. To achieve that, Israel would have to destroy Iranian enrichment sites, especially numbers of which were heavily fortified and embedded underground. Most challenging was the formerly secret Fordow facility, exposed by Israeli and American intelligence and revealed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2009, which was situated hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the mountain.

The Israeli Air Force, armed exclusively with F-15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets all with relatively short ranges and limited payloads, were incapable of carrying the 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator which alone could destroy Fordow. The B-52 bomber, flying at a height of 50,000 feet—twice the altitude of a commercial airliner—was beyond the reach of Iran’s air defenses.

By selling us even one B-52, I told White House officials, the United States would be sending an unequivocal message to the Iranian regime regarding America’s commitment to preventing Iran from producing nuclear bombs.

From the Obama Administration, my request was met with an emphatic “no.” From the first Trump Administration, the answer was "It’s an interesting idea, we’ll think about it.” In reply, I suggested that instead of selling us a plane, the Americans lease one to us. But the response was once again negative. So, too, was their reaction to my final request that an Israeli Air Force crew be able to train on a B-52 just in case one became available.

Today, with the Fordow facility intact, my attempts to procure the means for Israel to destroy it seem justified. Had we possessed even one strategic bomber Israel would not be in the position of wondering whether the United States will perform the task for us. We would mitigate the claims, now being made by both the left and the right in the United States, that Israel is dragging America into another endless Middle Eastern war.

Just as the Biden Administration’s decision not to supply us with certain types of ammunition convinced the Israelis of the need to produce our own artillery shells and tanks, so too must the current war in Iran convince us of the need to develop our own strategic air capabilities. While we greatly appreciate the support we have received and will undoubtedly continue to receive from the Trump Administration, Israel must always strive to be able to defend itself, on its own, against any threat in the Middle East.