In the past few weeks, Israel has had a few significant firsts. Amidst the upsurge in violence erupting almost daily between Hamas and Israel, Israel has been rolling out some new, and very impressive, defense programs.
Israel has implemented a long-sought defensive shield for its hard-hit south. They have dubbed it the Iron Dome, and since its debut, it has already struck down a handful of “projectiles” launched from Gaza. It is the first such short-range successful defense shield of its kind.
This comes just several weeks after Israel debuted The Trophy, another first in defensive shields. The Trophy is affixed to tanks. It spots and shoots down anti-tank missiles meant to destroy them. In early March, Israel had its first success along the Gaza border.
Of course Israel has been very clear that even these new technologies cannot prevent against every attack.
These two new significant advancements in Israeli defense come amidst a slew of reports that both Hamas and Hezbollah have much more powerful weapons with which to engage Israel should that time come. Reports have recently come out claiming that Hamas has more powerful missiles that can hit deeper into Israel, as well as guided missiles. It was the latter that hit a school bus in Israel last week, wounding two.
Perhaps more worrying is the newest reports on Hezbollah’s weapons caches. Wikileaks recently brought to light internal Israeli memos claiming that the next war with Hezbollah (written with the foregone conclusion that there WILL be a next war with Hezbollah), the Lebanese group will have at its disposal between 24 and 36 thousand rockets, hundreds of which will be launched at Tel Aviv.
Should that war come, Iron Dome and The Trophy or not, it should prove to be considerably more painful for Israel’s previous conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.
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