Israel's southern residents irate over missile defense decision

Residents of the south are up in arms over Wednesday's report in Haaretz that the Iron Dome system for defense against short-range rockets will not be deployed in Sderot, which has suffered heavy rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip over the last nine years, unless another war breaks out.

Sderot Mayor David Buskila hastened to demand clarifications from Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office.

"No final decision has been made on the matter," he said he was told. "But the very existence of a debate over the question of whether or not to deploy a system that would protect Sderot and other communities in the 'Gaza envelope' is insulting. It's inconceivable that after years of anticipation, a relevant, sophisticated defense system has been built, but Sderot residents will still not enjoy the quiet for which they've yearned for so long."

MK Amir Peretz (Labor), a Sderot resident who, in his former capacity as defense minister, played a key role in pushing for Iron Dome's development, also asserted that the system should be stationed first in Sderot.

"I was totally stunned by this report, and in my view, there should be no retreat from the plan of stationing operational batteries in this sector immediately after the development and testing are completed," he said.

Wednesday night, Buskila called a meeting of officials from every town in rocket range of Gaza to plan a campaign against the decision.

"This is much more than a slap in the face for residents of the south," said Yossi Greenfeld, who heads Ashkelon's emergency services department. "This system has been our great hope for a long time now, and the Ashkelon municipality will fight this decision. If necessary, Ashkelon residents will take to the streets to fight it."

Miri Vaknin, Ofakim's city manager, was equally upset. Most public buildings in Ofakim are not reinforced against rocket attacks, she noted, and the city had been counting on Iron Dome to eliminate the need for such improvements.

Moreover, she said, entire neighborhoods of the city consist of wooden houses that are utterly defenseless against rockets.

Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin also highlighted the issue. His municipality is already working on a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding that the state finance the reinforcement of 22 kindergartens and 10 schools.

But most of the city's houses are also not reinforced, he said - "and if the defense establishment isn't willing to deploy Iron Dome to provide a solution to sporadic, unanticipated fire from the Strip, then it ought to invest in proper reinforcement of those schools and neighborhoods that need it."

Ordinary residents of Sderot echoed the official outrage. "After nine years of terror and nightmares, I think we deserve to get a little security," said Avi, one such resident. "After all, the taxes we pay the State of Israel are the same taxes that residents of the center of the country pay."

	A man looking at a roof hit by a rocket in Sderot.
	Photo by: (Archive)