(Newsweek) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Prof. Geoffrey S. Corn - News of attacks against Israel and retaliatory airstrikes seem as common as the news of mass shootings in the U.S. Since the early 2000s, Israel - in close cooperation with the U.S. - has developed perhaps the most impressive counter-missile defense system in the world: Iron Dome. Yet Iron Dome, like any defensive system, has its limits. Unlike past flareups between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the most recent attacks have come from Lebanon and Syria. These areas are controlled by Hizbullah, whose 150,000 missiles represent a fundamentally different security challenge than that posed by Hamas. This capacity enables Hizbullah to threaten Israel with a missile campaign that would rapidly overwhelm Iron Dome and necessitate prioritizing the protection of vital infrastructure at the expense of civilian exposure. U.S. support for Israel's military readiness is critically important to ensure the protection of Israel from missile attacks and enable precise and decisive action in self-defense. Supporting Israel's ability to defend itself from the threats from all sides should be a source of unity for Americans. The writer is chair of Criminal Law and director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law.
2023-04-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive