While Israel claims that its Iron Dome defense system is flawless in defending Israel, facts on the ground prove otherwise.
Iron Dome is Israel’s most active and well-known air defense system that has intercepted thousands of rockets fired by Hezbollah and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since 2011. The system, developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense and produced with collaboration of US-based Raytheon Technologies, is designed to counter short-range missiles and drones from 4 km to 70 km. The Israeli army says that the Iron Dome intercepts 90 percent of these projectiles that go towards populated areas.
Three US officials, however, have recently told CNN that the White House is seriously concerned that in the event of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group could easily beat Israel’s air defense system in the north. The concerns, which according to US officials have also been communicated to Israel, indicate the fact that the Iron Dome is vulnerable to Hezbollah’s missiles and drones.
Iron Dome, a Collapsing Shield in Northern Israel
Despite its great reputation, Iron Dome’s performance has often been flawed. Especially in recent months, numerous videos have been published that show the performance of the Dome has suffered fundamental problems time and time again.
These flaws include but have not been limited to, Tamir missiles performing irregular maneuvers, exploding near civilian areas, or being activated with false warnings and damaging internal infrastructure.
These eyewitnesses, along with clear admitting by US officials, are in stark contrast to Israel’s claim of a 90-99% interception rate for the Iron Dome. In an interview with the Boston Globe last October, Professor Emeritus Theodore Postey of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said: “I would say the interception rate is 40 or 50 percent at best!”
In a study published in the Journal of Global Security Studies in 2018, prominent security studies expert Michael Armstrong also questioned the Iron Dome’s “90-99 percent” interception rate. In this regard, he wrote in an op-ed on Washington Post that “the interception rate is the percentage of destruction of missiles that are destroyed before hitting populated areas. But the Israelis ignore the missiles that fall over undefended but populated areas.”
The situation is particularly dire in the occupied northern territories, where the city of Kiryat Shmona – a city once thought to be under the full protection of the Iron Dome – has seen its population flee the growing missile threat by Hezbollah. Thousands of residents have left their homes, further exposing the vulnerabilities that the Iron Dome. As tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalate, the number of Israeli refugees from the city is likely to increase.
Cancer hikes among operational forces of the Iron Dome!
Beneath the surface of Israel’s Iron Dome lies a darker, more sinister reality, one that questions not only the system’s illusion of invincibility but also threatens the lives of those who operate the shield. A 2021 investigation by Yediot Ahronoth revealed serious claims about health risks for Israeli soldiers stationed near Iron Dome’s powerful radar systems.
Nicknamed “chippers” and “toasters” by those who work near the system, the radar systems emit intense heat, turning their surroundings into an invisible bush of deadly radiation. Several soldiers have given heartbreaking reports of a variety of incurable cancers that they believe are related to their service in the maintenance and operations of the defense system. Of course, the IDF has categorically dismissed these reports and denied any abnormal increase in cancer rates among Iron Dome personnel.
