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Israeli Subs as a Strategic Deterrent
(New York Post) Ronald S. Lauder - Even without an atomic threat, Israel faces a dangerous new world. While Iran is saber-rattling in the Straits of Hormuz, it has the means to launch an overwhelming barrage of conventionally armed ballistic missiles across Israel. Today, it is reported that the Israeli Navy operates three modern, ultraquiet, effectively fresh-air-independent Dolphin-class diesel-powered submarines. Two more subs have been ordered and should be at the dock before the end of this year. Israel has the means of firing what defense analysts say are nuclear-capable Harpoon cruise missiles from within retrofitted torpedo tubes, its secret warheads giving Iranian war planners a lot to think about when plotting the destruction of what they call "The Zionist entity." While a Harpoon's range is about 200 miles, published intelligence reports say Israel staged an Indian Ocean test in which it fired a mock warhead nearly 1,000 miles from its submarine - incidentally, the approximate distance between Tel Aviv and Tehran. The writer is the president of the World Jewish Congress and served as deputy assistant secretary of Defense for European and NATO affairs under President Ronald Reagan.