12 | JUNE 3 • 2021 

PURELY COMMENTARY

IRON DOME from page 10

defense contractors to propose 
innovative systems to protect 
against aerial bombardment. 
Hamas in Gaza and the 
Iranian-backed Hezbollah in 
southern Lebanon had been 
launching crude, short-range 
rockets against Israel since the 
1990s. Israel so far had been 
fortunate; they caused little 
damage and few casualties.
More sophisticated 
and deadlier rockets, 
however, were sure to 
follow. To Israel’s defense 
establishment, the notion 
of a home-grown weapon 
against incoming missiles 
seemed far-fetched, if not 
impossible. The tactical 
principles behind a missile 
shield hypothesized constant 
monitoring of all of Gaza, 
detection of rocket launches, 
instantaneous calculation 
whether a rocket was likely 
to hit an Israeli target, 
followed by launching of a 
missile from the ground to 
destroy the incoming rocket 
— within 15 seconds.
And the system had to 
be economical, lest waves 
of rockets — however 
ineffective — would stretch 
Israel’s defense budget to the 
breaking point.
Gold’s project struggled 
to find funding and political 
backing. In early 2007, 
Israel’s Defense Ministry 
backed the project’s pilot 
phase with an outlay of 
$10 million. Then Israel 
approached the Bush 
administration requesting 
hundreds of millions in 
additional support to deploy 
what by then was being 
called Iron Dome. The U.S. 
instead suggested the Israelis 

use its Vulcan Phalanx 
system, guarding the skies in 
Iraq. Israel demurred. In the 
meantime, Iron Dome won 
$200 million of additional 
Israeli funding needed for 
round-the-clock testing and 
development. In early 2009, 
a prototype intercepted an 
incoming rocket during a 
field test.
By then, Barack Obama 
had been elected president. 
He hadn’t forgotten his 
visit to Sderot and ordered 
his staff to look into the 
project and Israel’s request 
for financial assistance. 
Colin Kahl, then overseeing 
U.S. Middle East policy at 
the Pentagon, liked what 
he saw. The Pentagon sent 
experts in the fall of 2009. 
Iron Dome worked; and it 
proved superior to the U.S.’s 
Phalanx system. Kahl’s office 
recommended $200 million 
in aid. 
In May 2010, Obama 
asked Congress to provide 
$205 million for production 
and deployment of Iron 
Dome, which would be 
manufactured by Israel’s 

state-owned Rafael 
Advanced Defense Systems 
Ltd. The U.S. House of 
Representatives approved the 
funding later that month in 
a 410-4 vote. The measure 
became part of the National 
Defense Authorization Act 
for fiscal year 2011, approved 
by the Senate and signed by 
Obama on Jan. 7, 2011.
Iron Dome went 
operational in March 
2011 and shot down its 
first missile a month later. 
Whether the new missile 
defense ever would have 
been built without Obama’s 
support and U.S. funding is 
questionable. 
In 2019, defense industry 
trade publications reported 
that the U.S. Army 
purchased Iron Dome 
batteries — further evidence 
of the mutual benefit derived 
from the alliance of the two 
countries.
On June 4, 2009, Obama 
had delivered a speech in 
Cairo to the Muslim world 
titled “A New Beginning,” 
calling for a two-state 
resolution to Israel’s conflict 

with the Palestinian people. 
Some Israel partisans were 
alarmed, but Obama’s speech 
also reminded Muslims of 
the “unbreakable” nature of 
the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Tensions between Obama 
and Israeli Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu 
eventually cropped up over 
the U.S. response to Iran’s 
development of nuclear 
capabilities, as well as to 
Israel’s settlement policy in 
the West Bank. 
Differences between 
the governments are 
surfacing again as the Biden 
administration called for 
a ceasefire in Gaza while 
simultaneously pursuing 
nuclear talks with Iran 
that were halted by former 
president Donald Trump. 
Progressive Democrats have 
further strained relations by 
embracing the Palestinians in 
the current conflict, framing 
conflict between Jews and 
Arabs in terms of “racial 
justice.”
How the Democrats 
resolve the split over Middle 
East policy inside their 
party is less important than 
the overarching political 
consensus in Washington 
in support of a safe, strong, 
defensible Israel. That 
nonpartisan consensus spans 
73 years, to the Jewish State’s 
founding. Iron Dome — with 
thanks to Barack Obama 
— represents nothing short 
of a miraculous umbrella 
in Israel’s fight against 
extremist terror. 

Doron Levin is a Metro Detroit 

journalist.

IDF

Iron Dome launches an interceptor during Operation Pillar of Defense.

