Funding not renewed for Iron Dome system - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Sat., August 18, 2007 Elul 4, 5767

Israel Time: 02:02 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Print Edition

Diplomacy

Defense

Arts & Leisure

Real Estate

Jewish World

National

Advertising

Magazine

Week's End

Business

Opinion

Rosner's Domain

Anglo File

Travel

Sports

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Funding not renewed for Iron Dome system

By Yuval Azoulay

Lack of a consistent funding plan may leave the home front open to rocket and missile threats from neighboring countries, defense industry officials told Haaretz yesterday.

Moreover, officials said the Defense Ministry has not allocated funds for Israel's primary missile-interception system for 2008.

	Advertisement

The Defense Ministry, however, said the lack of such a funding plan will not impede development.

The officials said they were concerned about the absence of a regular government funding plan for the Iron Dome missile-interception project. They warned that inadequate and short-sighted budgeting may cause contractors to be unable to meet the government's deadline 20 months from now for deploying anti-ballistic rocket systems near population centers.

The sources estimate that the budget for Iron Dome, Israel's short-range, rocket-based interception system, will run out by the end of 2007. But last week, officials at Rafael - the national authority for the development of weapons and military technology - told Haaretz the system could be made operational within 18 months.

The sources say the company chosen to develop the Iron Dome's radar system, Israel Aerospace Industries, never received a proper order for work on the system. The radar has not yet been fitted to Iron Dome's requirements.

Former defense minister Amir Peretz allocated several dozen million shekels several months ago to Rafael to develop the system. A senior official in the defense industry told Haaretz that the Iron Dome project "is advancing at a very slow pace, which contradicts the cabinet's resolutions on quickly setting up active defenses for towns and cities near the Gaza Strip and the border with Lebanon that have in past years come under repeated rocket attacks."

The official said the missile and rocket interception system should get precedence over other projects until completion.

"The system should be declared a national project, with the multi-annual budgetary plan that comes with such a move," the official said. Last Week, Haaretz reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak wants the existence of an operational Iron Dome system to be a prerequisite for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank.

The official said funding must come from the government because none of the defense industry's companies can afford to develop a $100 million system such as Iron Dome.

"The defense industries need money to make headway. But currently, there isn't even a dedicated administrational body for handling development and to regularly allocate budgets and sub-budgets," the official said.

The Defense Ministry argued that in the past, defense projects have been successfully brought to completion without forming a dedicated administration.

"Iron Dome does not have a dedicated administration, but the project is being properly handled by the Defense Ministry's Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technology Industry. The administration staff is engaged in daily and constant contact with Iron's Dome developer Rafael."

Defense Ministry officials said the issue of a regular funding plan for Iron Dome may be addressed in the general-staff forum on the defense budget scheduled for next week. "The ministry is currently discussing how to implement the defense budget for 2008," one said.

Rafael's public relations department said they "expect to sign a multi-annual development plan in the near future." Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, declined to comment.

The Iron Dome system is meant to use the Israel Defense Forces' early warning radar system to identify short-range missiles and rockets in flight. In addition to Qassam rockets, Iron Dome is meant to protect against Hezbollah and Syria's Katyusha rockets.

Before going ahead with Rafael's Iron Dome, the Defense Ministry reviewed 13 other suggestions. Some of the proposed systems were rejected because their development process would be too long for the defense establishment's needs.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Not for stamp collectors
	Reading this new magazine is like sneaking a peek at a party you weren't invited to.


	Heart-stopping moment
	Cole Porter served as the soundtrack for my first 'near death experience.'

Today Online


	Majali: If made to feel part of Israel, Arabs could be key to peace
	Responses: 344


	PM, Abbas negotiate core issues for Palestinian state
	Responses: 286


	Shmuel Rosner: Israel cannot be weaned from the American teat
	Responses: 159


	Benvenisti: Barak will do everything to prove 'there's no partner'
	Responses: 93


	Ben-David: Jewish state must separate religion and politics
	Responses: 97

More Headlines
23:38 PMO denies Israel to pardon W. Bank militants


23:24 IDF troops kill Palestinian, detain 2 near Gaza Strip border fence


18:07 Ahmadinejad: Israel is 'flag of Satan,' may face disintegration


23:34 Israel expected to resume fuel shipments to Gaza on Sunday


15:52 Plane hijackers in Turkey free hostages, turn themselves in


19:20 Salah: Israel wants to divide Al-Aqsa between Jews, Muslims


15:34 Abbas aide: Israel won't discuss core issues preventing PA state


04:03 Gov't gives Peru $20,000 for quake relief; no Israelis reported hurt


19:48 Bureaucratic hold-up grants reprieve to Anne Frank's tree