Is this something the US and Israeli Military has done before?

[Jumping John]

I never heard of the US Marines conducting infantry drills against a mock Arab village before. I find this news a little bit scary. I am sure Israel will not engage in Afghanistan or Iraq. Hello Iran though - It seems.

U.S., Israel Conduct Largest-Ever Joint Infantry Drill

About 200 U.S. Marines joined a battalion of Israeli soldiers this month for the largest U.S.-Israeli joint infantry drill ever conducted, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The three-week training took place in Israel and included war-simulations in a mock Arab village. In one drill, an all-night hike through the Negev Desert culminated in a military incursion into the village. Behind a dune on the village's edge, a U.S. Marine company commander conferred with his Israeli counterpart before the two barked orders-the Marine in English, the Israeli in Hebrew-to soldiers scattered behind them. Explosions triggered by pyrotechnics engineers shook the night and as forces battled house-to-house. The exercise continues a growing trend of increased U.S.-Israeli joint training operations. There will be an even bigger joint infantry exercise this fall involving tanks and armored vehicles.

http://www.aipac.org/130.asp#38327