Israel Matzav

Israel's Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system is capable of intercepting and destroying any Iranian missiles, even were they to carry nuclear warheads, a high-ranking IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

While Iran is Israel's most serious strategic and existential threat, the country, he said confidently, was sufficiently protected by the Arrow, which plays a major role in maintaining Israel's protective envelope.

"We will shoot all of [Iran's missiles] down," he told the Post. "The Arrow knows how to intercept the Shihab missile."

Just last year that wasn't the case.

Appearing before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Brig.-Gen. Ilan Bitton - head of Israel's Air Defense Forces - said that, while the Arrow was highly effective against the Scud missiles that make up most of Syria's arsenal, it "needed improvement" to face the challenges posed by Iran's Shihab-3.

Improvements were recently made to the Arrow, the officer said, explaining the new confidence, and it was now able to detect even a missile carrying a split warhead and armed with decoys meant to fool the anti-missile system.

Asked about the danger of the Arrow taking out a non-conventional or nuclear missile over Israel, the officer said that the incoming missile would be destroyed at such a high altitude that it would disperse and destroy its payload without causing any casualties. [There are casualties and there are long-term effects. While it's plausible to me that the missile could be destroyed at a high enough altitude to avoid casualties, I don't see how you'd avoid the radiation fallout. Unless you hit the Shihab when it's still over Eastern Iraq or Eastern Jordan. CiJ]

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Israel has at least two operational Arrow batteries, with reportedly hundreds of missiles for each battery. One is stationed at Palmahim to protect Tel Aviv and the other is at Ein Shemer near Hadera in the north. [Can they protect Jerusalem and the South from Palmahim? Or are they assuming that the Iranians will not shoot at their Muslim brethren in and around Jerusalem? Thinking back to Faisal Husseini dancing on the roofs and trying to help direct Scuds onto Jews during Gulf War I.... CiJ]

The Iranian threat, the officer said, was not only felt by Israel but also prompted European countries that fall within the Shihab's long range to begin development of or negotiations to purchase anti-missile defense systems similar to the Arrow. Turkey was recently mentioned in the media as interested in purchasing the Arrow missile defense system in an effort to improve its aerial defense in light of Iran's procurement of the deadly Shihab.

"Europe has noticed the threat and is becoming a bigger player in the development of active [missile] defense systems," the officer said. "They are busy developing, researching and waking up."