Robbing Sderot of defense from rockets

So The IDF, Rafael, IAI, IAF are just fooling around with billions not to defend Israelis but to play into some business interests? Yossi Melman, you seem tired, take some rest.

every time ,Hu Hu Hu.

i agree with you there must be must be a change But the Arab states have a culture that demands how ARAB leaders act

wasn't Sderot in the 1948 Arab part of Palestine..with Ashdod, Ashquelon etc..

much money addressing the issue of those citizens who have been left without even a reinforced room to shelter from the rockets? You know, the part of the population that Israel proudly declares that it treats just like the majority, and so should be regarded as better than its neighbours.

Sderot not worth defending?? Is El Paso worth defending? What makes Hamas attacks on Sderot such an unambiguous war crime is precisely that it IS utterly devoid of any military or economic targets, just a rural hick town of 35,000 people like most communities in what today is Texas. Remember "The Alamo"? Israelis Remember Sderot - a symbol of the savagery and mindless blood lust of its Arab enemy. The difference between Sderot and The Alamo is that Sderot was in Israel to begin with, long before Hamas existed or any warfare with Gaza. The Alamo in the USA to begin with? Not so much.

Sderot is approximately 900 times the area of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and can not possibly be covered by Phalanx systems. Phalanx in high angle anti-projectile mode can not be used near residential areas due to shrapnel fallout and intense noise - it has NEVER been used or "successful" in that application, anywhere. Best use Phalanx systems to protect Sderot would be in low-angle mode near Gaza fence to RETURN FIRE instantly at Kassam crews by shredding them with its Gatling gun - maybe worth trying!! I have never been a fan of Iron Dome, which can't stop kassams from disrupting normal life in Sderot by near-miss rockets landing in "empty fields" as most do, Iron Dome only engages projectile trajectories its computer decides will hit something "important". The best defense is a good offense - give the Sderot citizen police force 20 or 30 105mm recoiless rifles, a thousand rounds of ammo, and let them shoot back at Gaza City neighborhoods Hamas criminals are firing from.

Didn't anyone else look at the pictures? They always showed Iron Dome as a vehicle mounted system. The intent to defend mobile IDF units was clear to anyone who looked at what was being presented to the public. "At first Rafael and the Defense Ministry let loose the falsehood that a handful of batteries would be able to defend the communities bordering the Gaza Strip, and the northern border. Now it seems dozens of batteries will be necessary." - Yossi Melman Did you not compare a map of the area to be defended with the specifications announced Mr. Melman? "If the price for each battery is $50 million, the sum required may be as high as a billion dollars for an adequate defense. It is clear that Israel will not be able to invest such sums." - ibid The problem Mr. Melman is that Sderot isn't worth the cost of defending it.

Searching for politicians who are not,"... religious fanatics ,liars, rapists, embezzlers and bribe takers", would be at best a thankless job. Are you volunteering for the job?

... the pieces are still going to fall on Sderot. Better solution: Line up 20 Howitzers in Sderot, and set them to trigger on the same radar alert that triggers Red Alert. Don't aim them at anything specific in Gaza, that is apparently against the rules. But Goldstone and Hamas are in agreement that poor aim gets you off the hook. Just make sure the shells come down before reaching the Med. Wouldn't want to disturb the marine life. I guarantee you that the Qassams would cease permanently within a month.

i dont want to believe what i am reading. how is it possible that a man who risked his life for israel can become so irresponsible. how is i possible that the defence industry is so selfcentred, while all of us who care are ready to fight and give everything for the safety of the people of israel.

More like tin pot. I just love the way these office boys invent names to aggrandise such feeble and inefective projects. Someone somewhere made mega bucks not just by thinking up a system that is entirely not fit for purpose but also giving it a name that is ditto.

I see someone in Israel is finally wise to the game! Manufacture of war materiel is BIG, BIG, BIG business. And governments who love to spend lots of money are its best suckers ... uhh ... customers. Someone please pass the word to Obama.

Those systems are 20 years old. They certainly can't be much good against those high tech Qassams and mortars Hamas is lobbing at us. Lol!

I have a great idea! Instead of wasting millions on weapons intended to kill people and having to go around to a multitude of countries begging on your knees for money, why not try getting rid of all your warmongering tools in government and finding some real humans that arent religious fanatics ,liars, rapists, embezzlers and bribe takers?

8 Years and 8000 rockets before the government took notice! how come?7999 rockets were ok but that last one... the Army could have nipped it in the bud 8 years ago, why not? only an outgoing president and local elections gave the excuse for Israel to punish Gaza then try and hide their crimes, while ALL of the Kibbutzim bordering Gaza lacked bomb shelters, now the 'Iron dome' fiasco! and the rockets still fall. Israel should have evacuated the civilian population out of the cities and camps and went after Hamas with special forces and commandos, not 'shock and awe' F16s and tanks and 300 dead children, think that brings long term security? think again...

I have read many times that the Iron Dome system was designed for longer range missiles. Israel's defense is based on deterrent. Protecting second strike resources is imperative. The only realistic defence from short range missiles is also the deterrent capability re: Gaza war. But the best nulification of aggression is peace. That takes international pressure, but Israel will not get that without showing it's efforts and intent, which is totally lacking presently.

Israel already has phalanx in stock. They are on all your navy ships and in your Navy warehouses. The land version just uses a different type of ammunition (but same caliber). The first systems the US deployed were taken straight out of ships' stores. To install, just pour a concrete base and turn the system from "standby" to "on."

Anyone stopped to think that IDf knows that its not going to be long before Hamas and Hizbolla have the ability to hit Tel Aviv and Gush Dan region and that this system was laways only going to be used to protect the center of the country. I mean lets face who is going to send a missile worth $50,000 to knock out a $50 motar shell that does $10,000 worth of damage. That no politician is going to say this out loud if really nothing new, as always the peripherey continues to be of less importance to political leadership that the independent state of gush dan.

Your claims in a different talkback on the subject seem to be in error. But rest assured, Doc, Barak has at least put Israel down on the waiting list for the American made C-RAM, or "Phalanx". He's even petitioned Secretary Gates to intercede by allowing Israel a priority to receive at least one ahead of it's position on the waiting list. We've already purchased its accompanying radar system, which provides us early warning along the Gaza border-if the IDF has it turned on at the time. But the big revelations about Iron Dome mentioned in this article have been in the news for well over a year. Where have you been Doc? It'll probably help against some of Hezbollah's arsenal, but you can forget about it protecting Sderot.

"Another reason for the decision was that the defense establishment did not mind investing in R&D because the fund is partly from an Asian country whose name is censored." Gosh! Can't imagine who......