Few locations in Israel boast stronger defences than the primary nuclear research facility and reactor, situated eight miles from the town of Dimona in the southern Negev Desert.
Yet, when two Iranian ballistic missiles breached the nation’s celebrated air defences on Saturday night, crashing into residential areas of Dimona and the nearby city of Arad, even battle-hardened Israelis found themselves shaken by the resulting devastation.
The strikes landed roughly three hours apart, reports The New York Times.
Perhaps as alarming as the destruction itself was the military’s acknowledgement that it had attempted to intercept both projectiles. These failures raise uncomfortable questions about the effectiveness of Israel’s layered missile defence network and its capacity to safeguard its civilian population.
The episode has also revived concerns that the military might be rationing its most advanced and expensive interceptors, following reports that stockpiles were severely depleted during last year’s 12-day conflict with Iran.
These worries may intensify in the coming weeks if the current campaign against Iran is only “midway,” as Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, stated on Saturday.
Military officials say they are investigating the causes of the incident but have remained reticent regarding specifics. Visiting the impact sites on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “miracle” that no one lost their lives.
He urged Israelis to heed incoming missile alerts and proceed to bomb shelters promptly. “Don’t be complacent,” he warned.
He offered no explanation for the failed interceptions and made no mention of the air defence system – one in which Israel and the United States have invested billions of dollars over decades to intercept short-, medium-, and long-range rockets and missiles. To date in this conflict, Iranian drones have appeared to pose only a minor threat.
Although the military places the interception rate for Iran’s ballistic missiles at more than 90 percent, officials and experts caution that no defensive system can ever be 100 per cent impenetrable.
“Dimona is protected with multilayered defence systems – Israeli and American,” said Ran Kochav, a brigadier general in the reserves and a former commander of Israel’s air and missile defence forces. “But nothing is perfect. There was an operational failure.”
Brig Gen Effie Defrin, the military’s chief spokesman, said on Sunday evening that the failures in Arad and Dimona were unrelated. Israel’s Iron Dome remains the most widely recognised element of its missile defence, though it is primarily designed to counter short-range rockets from Hamas.
The most advanced response to ballistic missiles is the Arrow 3, an anti-ballistic missile system co-developed with the United States that intercepts targets in space just outside the earth’s atmosphere. David’s Sling, meanwhile, handles cruise missiles and medium-range rockets. The American THAAD system is also deployed in Israel.
To broaden its options and manage resources more efficiently, Israel is now working to extend the scope and range of its more cost-effective and widely available interceptor systems.
“It is trying to stretch the capabilities of the lower-tier air defences such as Iron Dome and David’s Sling,” General Kochav said. “Sometimes it works.”
The Arrow 3 system has come under scrutiny because its interceptors are costly and time-intensive to manufacture, necessitating their judicious use. Israeli news media, operating under military censorship restrictions, reported on Sunday that the Arrow 3 was not deployed against the missiles that struck Arad and Dimona.
Emergency and health services report that around 175 people sustained injuries in the two missile strikes in Arad and Dimona, with at least ten in serious condition. Local officials noted that many residents of the damaged buildings had reached bomb shelters, preventing an even greater disaster.
The missile strikes have killed at least 15 civilians, including both Israelis and foreign workers.
However, the damage extends beyond the four primary impact sites – located in Arad, Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem.
Large missile fragments and smaller rockets, dispersed by dozens from larger Iranian “cluster missiles” that break up several miles above ground, have struck numerous additional buildings and roads. These, too, have proven lethal.
