Last update - 00:00 02/02/2007
PMO: Peretz has no authority to choose missile defense system
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said Friday that Defense Minister Amir Peretz does not have the authority to select a missile defense system, and can only to make a recommendation.
The comments came a day after Peretz announced, at a meeting attended by senior Defense Ministry and Israel Defense Forces officials, that he had decided that Israel's defense establishment should purchase the Rafael Armament Development Authority's "Iron Cap" defense system, out of four possible options.
The system, expected to be ready for deployment in 2009, is meant to block missiles that have a range of up to several dozen kilometers. It is designed to detect incoming Katyusha or homemade Palestinian rockets and fire miniature missiles to destroy them mid-air, Israeli security sources said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will convene a meeting to discuss the matter on Sunday.
MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) called Peretz's announcement a display of underhanded opportunism.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has already received notice that Peretz's office will submit a recommendation regarding the choice of the defense system, but will not make the final determination, said Schneller.
Peretz's office issued a statement Friday saying that "the decision was professional, not political."
"Extensive research went into the minister's decision, and it is in fact within his power to make such a decision," the statement said.
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said in an interview with Israel Radio on Friday that the ministry's choice of the Rafael system was "a professional decision based on the recommendations of the best experts, and is devoid of external considerations."
It was earlier decided that Rafael would cooperate with American weapons company Raytheon in the development of a system called "Magic Wand," meant to protect Israel from mid-range missiles.
Hezbollah fired with nearly 4,000 rockets, many of them Katyushas, at Israel during the war last summer. Meanwhile, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip regularly fire Qassam rockets at western Negev communities.
Meanwhile, Peretz said Thursday that he does not intend to leave the post of defense minister, despite calls for him to do so.
Since former justice minister Haim Ramon was convicted of an indecent act on Wednesday, coalition members have been readying themselves for a cabinet reshuffle that could include moving Peretz from the Defense Ministry into a socioeconomic ministry. Peretz associates insist that he is not going anywhere, and that he views himself as the right person to lead the country's military establishment at this point in time.