Israel’s highly touted Iron Dome air defense batteries have been misfiring and causing civilian casualties in recent weeks, sparking controversy. The air defense system has consistently presented problems, including damaging infrastructure, proving cost-ineffective, and failing to engage the number of targets claimed by the Israeli military.

On August 6, reports emerged that a Hezbollah drone attack on the Israeli-held city of Nahariya resulted in civilian casualties, leaving thirteen wounded and one critically injured. However, the Israeli military quickly clarified that the munition that hit the Route 4 highway was actually a misfired Tamir missile from a nearby Iron Dome air defense battery.

This incident followed another high-profile event about two weeks earlier, when a projectile exploded in the Syrian-Druze village of Majdal Shams, killing twelve children and injuring dozens more. While Israel blamed Hezbollah and attempted to drum up sectarian strife, the Lebanese group rejected any involvement. Locals from the illegally occupied village pointed fingers at the Iron Dome system, claiming they saw the missile flying from the Mount Hermon military site. An Israeli paramedic also told an Al-Arabi TV reporter that the shrapnel belonged to an Iron Dome missile.

Despite consistent reports of Iron Dome misfires causing infrastructure damage, a notable case occurred near Tel Aviv in November. A video captured a Tamir missile performing a 180-degree loop and exploding near a civilian area. In early December, the Israeli military announced an investigation into the malfunction after the video went viral online. The last investigation into such a malfunction was in May 2023, highlighting a recurring issue in nearly every conflict involving the Iron Dome.

Another major issue with the Iron Dome is its frequent triggering by false alarms, leading to unexpected explosions that shock civilians and set off sirens. During the May 2021 war between Gaza and Israel, the Iron Dome failed to counter large barrages of concentrated rocket fire. This failure prompted the U.S. to urge the deployment of more batteries as a reinforcement strategy. According to the Times of Israel, the deaths of two Israeli women in Ashkelon during the 11-day war may have been caused by an Iron Dome technical malfunction.

While Israel claims that its Iron Dome air defense system intercepts between 90 to 99% of targets, Professor Emeritus Theodore Postal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a starkly different assessment. “I would say that the intercept rate is at best 4 or 5 percent,” Postal said in an interview with the Boston Globe last October. He added that the interception rate is likely as low as one percent.

Postal is known for debunking the effectiveness of the U.S. Patriot missile system. After analyzing evidence, he found that the air defense system had managed to shoot down zero to one Iraqi Scud missiles fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Postal conducted extensive research on the Iron Dome and its effectiveness during the 2012 and 2014 wars between Gaza and Israel. He concluded that “the intercept performance of Iron Dome appears to be probably 5 percent or less.” This conclusion was reached despite a range of upgrades to the air defense system between its first use in 2011 and 2014.

While the Iron Dome is often hailed as a near-impenetrable air defense system by both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian political commentators, its history and independently evaluated effectiveness suggest otherwise. Despite its reputation, the Iron Dome does not appear to be as effective as claimed. The reason for its high praise is similar to that of every air defense system on earth: they are marketed to outshine competitor systems.

The Iron Dome, a product of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), utilizes Tamir missiles co-developed by the Raytheon division of U.S. defense conglomerate RTX. Israel has consistently claimed an interception rate of over 90% since the system’s deployment in 2011, a figure that has remained unchanged despite numerous upgrades and amendments over the past decade.

A significant downside, aside from malfunctions causing civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, is the cost of using the system. In 2012, the Iron Dome was upgraded to use smaller and more cost-effective missiles due to the high expenses associated with its operation. This has been a recurring issue, as the system combats rockets that only cost a few hundred dollars to produce, while the cost of a single Iron Dome missile is approximately $50,000.

While many air defense systems are oversold by the military-industrial complex and numerous nations publish unrealistic information about their effectiveness, the issue in Israel may run deeper. In such a small country, the Israeli public has been given systems like Iron Dome to believe in—a system that makes them feel safe and in which they can put their faith.

During past conflicts with armed resistance in the Gaza Strip, the relative ineffectiveness of the munitions fired towards Israelis has supported the claim that the Iron Dome intercepts over 90% of incoming projectiles. However, as the Israeli military now confronts more sophisticated weapons from groups like Hezbollah, the famed air defense system appears to be taking a blow to its credibility.

Feature photo | An Israeli soldier is seen next to an Iron Dome rocket interceptor battery deployed near Haifa. Tsafrir Abayov | AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

Republish our stories! MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
Comments