US needs to move bases from Gulf to Israel, former Centcom commander says

US needs to move bases from Gulf to Israel, former Centcom commander says Submitted by Sean Mathews on Mon, 07/06/2026 - 21:06 Retired General Frank McKenzie says Iran war has shown that current basing system is now an 'artefact' This handout satellite image taken on 1 March 2026 shows a view of smoke rising from damage at the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain's capital Manama after it was hit by Iranian strikes (2026 Planet Labs PBC/AFP) Off The US needs to relocate its bases in the Gulf to Israel and neighbouring countries to better protect its assets from Iran’s missiles and drones, the former head of US Central Command (Centcom), General Frank McKenzie, said at a webinar last week. “No one in their right mind would ever put the Centcom forward headquarters, you know, 100 miles away from Iran, [in Qatar], yet that’s where it is,” he told the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, referring to al-Udeid military base. McKenzie, who was the top military official overseeing US forces in the Middle East from 28 March 2019 to 1 April 2022, said that in 2022, he and other officials told the Biden administration that the constellation of US bases around the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain was vulnerable to Iranian attacks and US forces should be dispersed to the West, including to Israel.