The government is considering resuming funding for the advanced laser-based Skyguard missile protection system, security officials told Haaretz. They added that if the system is approved, it can be operational within 18 months.

The project was dropped about a year and a half ago, despite several successful tests and in spite of repeated rocket attacks from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, but Public Security Minister Avi Dichter has been enlisted to spearhead the effort to resurrect Skyguard by a strong lobby group, including former defense ministry officials, that has developed.

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To address the threat from Palestinian Qassam rockets, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then-defense minister Amir Peretz approved the development of an alternative missile-defense system which is based on intercepting rockets rather then laser beams. The missile interceptor, named Iron Dome ("Kipat Barzel" in Hebrew), was to be developed by Rafael, the national authority for the development of weapons and military technology, and completed within three years.

Olmert and Peretz's decision to go ahead with the Iron Dome project was made in conjunction with the Defense Ministry's recommendation to develop the system in Israel, and facilitated by the fact that a foreign country agreed to allocate considerable funds toward developing the system.

However, the pro-Skyguard group argued that Skyguard was nearly completed, requiring minimal further investment to make it operational. They urged Dichter to persuade other decision-makers to approve the resumption of its development in addition to the Iron Dome project. They added that the combination of both systems would yield optimal results.

Supporters of reviving the laser-based project pointed out that it had passed performance tests in the U.S. with flying colors, registering a successful interception rate of nearly 100 percent. Northrop Grumman Space Technology's Skyguard is an advanced derivative model of the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL/Nautilus) project. Initially, the project was launched in 1996 by Israel and the U.S., and was meant to counter Hezbollah's 122mm Katyusha rockets.