On November 29, 1983 a memorandum of agreement was set up between Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 regarding political, military and economic cooperation. Part of the agreement was for a Joint Political Military Group (JPMG) as a high-level planning forum to discuss and implement combined planning, joint exercises, and logistics. The JPMG is co-chaired by the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the American Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State by providing policy in the areas of international...

. The JPMG meets biannually, alternating between Israel and the United States.

The JPMG was originally intended to discuss means of countering Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 involvement in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. But more recently the concern has been over the spread of chemical weapons and ballistic missiles.