US and Israel conduct joint missile test in Mediterranean Sea

The Israeli military on Monday conducted a joint missile test with the United States in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Pentagon confirmed the U.S. participated in the exercise but said it was long planned and had “nothing to do with United States’ consideration of military action” against Syria.

{mosads}”Early this morning, the United States Department of Defense provided technical assistance and support to the Israeli Missile Defense Organization flight test of a Sparrow target missile over the Mediterranean Sea,” Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement.

“The test was long planned to help evaluate the Arrow Ballistic Missile Defense system’s ability to detect, track, and communicate information about a simulated threat to Israel.”

The Israeli Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that it had conducted the unannounced test, which the ministry said “enhanced capabilities of a new type of target missile from the Sparrow series,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

The test underscored the tensions in the region as the U.S. is preparing for a potential missile strike in Syria.

News of Tuesday’s test broke after Russia’s Defense Ministry detected the ballistic “objects” moving east across the Mediterranean. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the “successful” test of a single missile.

The missile test also comes as the White House plans a “flood the zone offensive” on Capitol Hill to win over lawmakers in support of a strike against the Assad regime in Syria.

Some lawmakers, including Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), have publicly said they’re worried that a U.S. military intervention in Syria could lead to a retaliatory strike against U.S. allies in the region.

“The Iranians and Hezbollah … ultimately could possibly strike against neighbors in the region, including our allies in Israel,” Menendez said Tuesday on CBS’s “This Morning.”

— This story was first posted at 8:06 a.m. and has been updated.