Israel approves huge ‘new defence’ plan to confront Iran threats

The Israeli government yesterday approved a defence plan to strengthen the country’s air and missile defences in the border areas with Syria, in the north of the country, in light of the escalation of threats from Iran and Hezbollah, according to what was reported by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan 11.

As part of the defence plan, the broadcaster said, the Ministerial Committee for Armaments Affairs approved a plan to purchase interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome system, radars and other military equipment costing hundreds of millions of shekels.

Kan 11 stated that the regional defence plan relies on reproducing the strategy followed by the Israeli army in confronting the rockets of the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, including changing the defensive outlook in the region, in response to the launching of advanced rockets through the regional command and control centres.

The plan includes funding the burying to conceal the control and monitoring centres for operating defence systems underground. The channel stated that the Israeli government had approved a similar plan at an estimated cost of about $43 million to strengthen missile defences in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, noting that the costs of the plan related to the northern front would be higher, “which will allow a better and more effective response to the current threats.”

Recently, the Israeli army raised the alert status of the air defence systems and intelligence services to the maximum degree, according to what the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported last week, in light of the escalation of threats after the Iranian drone sector was exposed to a series of attacks.

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