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Barak mulls buying anti-missile system from Washington By Yossi Melman and Barak Ravid Defense Minister Ehud Barak is considering purchasing or borrowing several Phalanx automated cannons from the United States. The cannons intercept incoming mortar shells and short-range rockets, and would be used to defend Sderot and other Negev towns from rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Barak, who left Israel last night for a visit to Washington, is expected to ask U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to appraise the Phalanx's performance. That assessment will be used to help the government decide whether to bring the anti-missile system to Israel. Advertisement The new development comes after a series of articles in Haaretz, in which Dr. Natan Farber - an expert in ballistic missiles from the Technion - expressed his support for the project. However, several Defense Ministry officials said the Phalanx system is not effective enough, and argue that Israel should focus on developing the Iron Dome defense system, which will not be ready before 2011. At the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, Barak defended the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, telling critical ministers and the Shin Bet security service chief, "Hamas is acting against the Qassam fire even more than I had personally assessed." The comments came after Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the ministers that Hamas was taking advantage of the cease-fire to train and prepare for an Israeli attack. "Hamas is taking advantage of the cement brought into Gaza to build bunkers," said Diskin. Although Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the cabinet last week that Egypt has stepped up its activity against weapons-smuggling, Diskin said the Egyptian activity is nothing out of the ordinary and that Hamas has built up its arms supply since the cease-fire began. "Since the lull, four tons of explosive material, 50 anti-tank rockets, dozens of rifles, and raw material for the rocket array have gotten to Hamas in Gaza," said Diskin. "There are many organizations in Gaza that want to carry out kidnappings. The deal with Hezbollah has boosted the Palestinian groups' motivation to kidnap soldiers and Israeli civilians." Barak said Israel can use the cease-fire to improve its own position as well. "I want to mention that the IDF presented the cabinet with several possible action plans that would cause the dissolution of Hamas, but I have yet to hear any government minister say he wants to do that," the defense minister said. "The lull is a time-out that we will take advantage of to improve our point of departure for action in Gaza." Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Vice Premier Haim Ramon sided with Diskin and slammed the cease-fire, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel needs to decide at what point it will respond to Palestinian attacks from Gaza. Olmert said he is concerned that in five years, Israel will ask itself how it let the situation in the Negev take hold. "We will discuss this in the cabinet shortly," he said. "So far we have done well not to respond to the fire, but we have to seriously consider the lines that cannot be crossed from Israel's perspective." Livni said Israel must not ignore Palestinian violations of the truce. "We have to respond with fire to every violation," she said. "And on the subject of the Rafah crossing, we should open it only in connection with [a deal to free captive soldier] Gilad Shalit and strengthening Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas]." Referring to Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas, respectively, Ramon said, "Instead of strengthening those who are with us, we're strengthening those who are against us." Bookmark to del.icio.us   West Bank drought Palestinian Water Authority calls on Israel to rethink its water policies. Death of an artist Egyptian filmmaker's controversial work earned him international recognition.

Read & React Tensions high in Gaza as Hamas cracks down on rival groups Responses: 234 Israeli troops kill Hamas man behind Dimona terror attack Responses: 112 IDF officers: Yeshiva teachers incite W. Bank teens to violence Responses: 88 Report: Rabbis slam removal, publication of note Obama left in Western Wall cracks Responses: 65 Aluf Benn: 'Hamastan' is prototyope for future Palestinian state Responses: 54 More Headlines 02:44 Israel finally agrees to move separation fence at Bil'in 01:02 Pentagon chief: War with Iran 'disastrous on number of levels' 02:47 15 people killed, 154 hurt in twin explosions in Istanbul 02:54 Israel mulls acquiring U.S. anti-rocket system to protect Sderot 02:13 Rice presses Israel, PA to agree on document ahead of UN meet 02:39 Sans porn, Hasidim introduced to world of 'kosher Internet' 22:36 High Court slams gov't for shunning ruling on funding for yeshivas 15:53 Shin Bet chief: Hezbollah deal may spur abductions 00:06 Police: Olmert to be questioned numerous times in corruption probes 20:43 Iran eyes seat on UN Security Council as Asia representative 22:20 West Bank residents face severe water shortage as drought continues 23:13 VIDEO / MK Lieberman: Either charge me for corruption or drop case Previous Editions Select Day 27 jul 25 jul 24 jul 23 jul 22 jul 21 jul 20 jul 18 jul 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul

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