A senior U.S. military commander in Europe has privately warned the Pentagon that he lacks sufficient naval forces to defend Israel against potential ballistic missile attacks, according to a report by The Washington Post.

General Alexus Grynkewich, who leads U.S. European Command (EUCOM), notified senior Pentagon officials in writing that he would be forced to choose between defending the U.S. homeland and defending Israel if he does not receive an additional Navy destroyer, The Post reported. EUCOM is responsible for U.S. military operations across Europe and is tasked with protecting the United States from the threat of Russian ballistic missiles, as well as maintaining readiness against a potential Russian incursion into NATO territory.

The warning highlights a growing strain on U.S. Navy resources brought on by President Donald Trump's naval blockade of Iranian ports. The blockade was imposed in response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which a significant portion of the world's oil supply transits. Maintaining the blockade has required the deployment of Navy destroyers, drawing them away from other missions. The U.S. Navy operates a finite fleet of roughly 70 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, which are the primary surface combatants used for both ballistic missile defense and sea control missions.

U.S. naval destroyers are equipped with the Aegis Combat System and armed with interceptor missiles — including SM-3 and SM-6 variants — that have previously been used to shoot down missiles fired at Israel by Iran and by Houthi militants in Yemen. Each interceptor is costly and produced in limited quantities, and sustained operations have drawn attention to questions about munitions replenishment timelines. With those destroyers tied up enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports, the capacity to maintain such defensive coverage has been diminished.

"Being on a wartime footing is going to take a toll in terms of readiness and munitions inventory levels," Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based defense policy think tank, told The Post. "Now the question is: What's the strategy here?"

Karako's remarks underscore broader concerns among defense analysts about the sustainability of concurrent U.S. military commitments. The demands of the Iranian port blockade, combined with standing obligations to deter Russian aggression in Europe and defend partners in the Middle East, have stretched naval assets thin. The Pentagon's National Defense Strategy has called for the military to be capable of deterring multiple adversaries simultaneously, but the current demand for destroyers across competing theaters has tested that framework.

General Grynkewich's notification to the Pentagon reflects the difficult trade-offs facing U.S. military planners as they balance competing priorities across multiple theaters of operation.