Severe flaws in "Israel’s" development of anti-missile systems

The 2008 ‘Israeli' State Comptroller's report points to severe deficiencies in the War Ministry's decision-making process regarding ‘Israel's' anti-missile systems which it developed to counter the Qassam and mortar fire on the South and the Katyusha rockets emanating from south Lebanon.

According to the report, published Monday, the State spent considerable funds, amounting to billions, on developing defensive systems before determining their actual operational objectives.

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus also noted defense (war) establishment failures in addressing additional threats, mainly the possibility of a chemical attack on the ‘Israeli' army and ‘Israel's' population.

Lindenstraus also cited substantial flaws in the Defense (War) Ministry's Research and Development Administration's (RDA) development of the "Iron Dome" and "Magic Wand" anti-missile systems.

According to the report, the systems had been fully developed even before the army specified its operational needs for defense against surface-to-surface missiles and prior to the costly projects' approval by the military and the government.

'Ongoing fiasco'
As for the threat of chemical warfare, the comptroller's report called the Home Front Command's preparations for such a scenario "an ongoing fiasco," which has manifested itself in a steady drop in the number of usable gas masks since 2003. The report determines that the current state will not allow for maximum protection for ‘Israel's' citizens (occupation settlers) in case of a chemical attack.

Regarding the miltary's level of preparedness for chemical warfare, Lindenstraus said an inspection of the army's ground forces in 2007 found severe deficiencies in this regard, which, according to him, stemmed from the fact that the issue had been de-prioritized by the military between 2004 and 2006.