Channels

Dichter: 15,000 rockets in 10 years
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Committee: IDF must arm home front

Knesset committee says army not planting Iron Dome defenses quickly enough to handle threats

A report issued Tuesday by a subcommittee of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee says the IDF is not arming the home front fast enough in order to deal with threats associated with Hezbollah and other terror organizations.

 

"The extent of IDF armament present in the multi-year plan for active defense of the lower levels is unacceptable and requires immediate revision," the subcommittee concluded, referring to the Iron Dome air defense system.

 

MK Avi Dichter told reporters Tuesday morning that the threat from Gaza and neighboring states had grown, and that the security establishment "must ensure that the home front does not become a battle front".

 

"Fifteen thousand rockets have been fired at Israel over the past decade, most of them in the past five years," he said. "To this threat we must add a much larger one – arms acquired by states such as Syria and Iran – though Hezbollah is already armed with weapons befitting a country."

 

Dichter explained that the committee had focused on systems made to intercept rockets with a range of a few dozen kilometers as well as active defense systems.

 

The committee was convinced that Iron Dome, which was tested successfully early this year, was the proper choice for dealing with threats of this kind, but that the army's rate of arming itself with the system was not satisfactory.

 

"All of these things make the home front vulnerable, and a sitting duck for terror organizations firing every which way," Dichter said.

 

He added that Israel had not yet developed "an approved security position", and that this was harming civilians. "Only now, at the end of the decade, are we beginning to see development and construction of operational capabilities in handling rockets after they have been fired towards Israel," he said.

 

Dichter called on the army to decide how many Iron Dome batteries were required and to spread them quickly throughout the area in which they are needed.

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.25.10, 12:34
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment