Israel launches Arrow anti-missile system

Steinitz: Arrow test gives Israel advantage over Syria, Iran

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies

Israel's latest test of its Arrow missile defense system proves Israel has a jump on its fiercest enemies, Iran and Syria, a senior lawmaker on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Monday.

Israel successfully tested the Arrow anti-missile system Sunday night, in its first nighttime trial, intercepting a test target that simulated the warhead of a long-range Iranian surface-to-surface Shihab-3 missile.

"The test yesterday was exceptional," said MK Yuval Steinitz, a former head of the committee. "It proved it can bring down any kind of ballistic missile, a capability no power in the world possesses."

He said that, "Even if Iran or Syria were to develop more sophisticated missiles than they now have, Israel is one step ahead."

Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Fattal, a senior official in the Defense Ministry department responsible for the project, said Sunday that the successful test firing of the Arrow missile shows that Israel can now defend itself against an Iranian nuclear missile threat.

"The test proves that Israel is prepared to deal with a missile attack from Iran, including a nuclear one," Fattal told Army Radio.

"The missile is capable of dealing with future Syrian and Iranian threats as we see them, as of now. I believe that the citizens of Israel can sleep peacefully."

A defense establishment official took issue with Fattal's assessment, however. "There is no significance to the results of the test," the radio quoted the unnamed official as saying Monday. "There is simply no such thing as defense against nuclear missiles."

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