Israelis Cheering On Their Army And Gilad Sharon Thinks Gaza Should Be Crushed Once And For All

Crowds Of Israelis Are Showing Up To Cheer On The Iron Dome System


A rocket is launched from a new Israeli anti-missile system known as Iron Dome

There is a new attraction in Tel Aviv, drawing crowds of cheering supporters. It is Israel's fifth Iron Dome battery, whose deployment was accelerated at the weekend to position it in the south of the city to shoot down long-range rockets from Gaza.

It has had considerable success. Two rockets aimed at Tel Aviv on Sunday were shot down by Iron Dome, and its vapour trails can be seen in the sky over southern Israel every day.

But only about a third of the 1,000-plus rockets fired from Gaza since the start of Operation Pillar of Defence have been intercepted. And it was disclosed on Monday that three Israelis killed in a rocket attack in Kiryat Malachi – the only Israeli casualties so far in the war – died after Iron Dome malfunctioned.

The anti-missile system was first deployed in April 2011, after more than three years in development. Much of its funding came from the United States. The five batteries – each with three missile launchers and a heavily computerised mobile control unit – are currently all operating in southern Israel, with the capability of intercepting rockets from distances of up to 50 miles.

The defence minister, Ehud Barak, described Iron Dome's achievements as "unparalleled" on Sunday, but added: "We need 13 batteries to cover the entire area of the country from threats of short- and medium-range missiles."

According to a senior official at Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, the Israeli defence company that developed Iron Dome, "the problem is that there aren't enough of these things".

The official, who declined to be named, said the system's successes were creating an additional problem in the minds of Israelis. "People see [Iron Dome] as a saviour. We have warned that the danger is that people feel so secure with Iron Dome that they don't take security precautions when they hear sirens. [Instead] they film the rockets on their mobile phones."

Rafael is developing a new anti-missile system, called David's Sling, which is designed to intercept long-range missiles fired from as far away as Iran. Two-thirds of its funding is coming from the US and the rest from Israel. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2013.

Amos Harel, defence correspondent for Haaretz newspaper, said that in any future conflict Israel may be forced to choose between deploying its anti-missile systems to protect civilians or to protect its strategic assets and infrastructure. "If the enemy is trying to hit air force bases, is the most important thing to protect attack capabilities or population bases?" he said.

Israeli generals, he said, acknowledged that defence systems were a "short blanket", unable to cover everything.

GILAD SHARON: Israel Needs To Crush Gaza Once And For All


Gilad Sharon, the son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, takes a hard line in the Jerusalem Post with respect to the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza:

Israel needs to completely wipe out Gaza's infrastructure, he says--gas, power, water--or else re-occupy the territory.

Otherwise, Sharon argues, this conflict will end the way other skirmishes have: With a lame "cease-fire" agreement that allows Hamas to continue to blast Israel with the occasional rocket.

Israel shouldn't have to tolerate that, Sharon says. So it's time for decisive action.

It's worth noting that Sharon's views are considered extreme, and the Jerusalem Post is being attacked for publishing them.

Why do our citizens have to live with rocket fire from Gaza while we fight with our hands tied? Why are the citizens of Gaza immune? If the Syrians were to open fire on our towns, would we not attack Damascus? If the Cubans were to fire at Miami, wouldn’t Havana suffer the consequences? That’s what’s called “deterrence” – if you shoot at me, I’ll shoot at you. There is no justification for the State of Gaza being able to shoot at our towns with impunity. We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.

There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a ceasefire.

Were this to happen, the images from Gaza might be unpleasant – but victory would be swift, and the lives of our soldiers and civilians spared.

IF THE government isn’t prepared to go all the way on this, it will mean reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip. Not a few neighborhoods in the suburbs, as with Cast Lead, but the entire Strip, like in Defensive Shield, so that rockets can no longer be fired.

There is no middle path here – either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip.