Israel Missile Air Defense Seems To Have Failed and is Under Scrutiny
A coastal night scene shows a lit walkway, buildings and palm trees by a dark sea. A bright, red-orange diagonal light streaks across the sky. By Isabel Kershner Reporting from Jerusalem Few sites in Israel are better protected than its main nuclear research facility and reactor, eight miles from the town of Dimona in the southern Negev Desert. So when two Iranian ballistic missiles crashed into residential neighborhoods of Dimona and another nearby city, Arad, on Saturday night, evading the country’s vaunted air defenses, even battle-hardened Israelis seemed rattled by the scenes of destruction. As alarming, perhaps, as the damage was the military’s admission that it had tried to intercept the missiles, which struck about three hours apart. The failures raised discomfiting questions about Israel’s multilayered missile defense system and its ability to protect its citizens. And it renewed concerns that the military might be holding back on firing its most cost...
