The Iron Dome illusion
Op-ed: Success of missile defense system makes us forget about real issue: Gaza’s terror hotbed
At a certain phase of the recent campaign in the south, the fighting appeared to be no more than a new computerized application where missiles are falling from the skies and have to be hit before they land.
Media outlets constantly reported with unbearable amazement the system’s success stories, while ignoring the truly important and dramatic element here: Israel is under attack.
What we saw are terrorists who are firing at civilians whenever they feel like it. We also saw children who are experiencing anxiety and trauma that would not leave them for a long time to come. And the south of the country was paralyzed.
So what’s the great joy all about? The fact that we have several geniuses in our defense industries? Are we engaged in a science competition around here or in an attempt to live a sane life?
Iron Dome is indeed an amazing system (in contradiction to the negative predictions of some local defense commentators). However, it is a defensive system, which provides a very narrow solution to a very wide-ranging problem: Gaza is a terrorism hotbed, and when it feels like it, it disrupts our normal life here in Israel.
