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Report: Israeli Defense Chief Wants IDF to Buy New Surface-to-Surface Missiles That Would Bolster Jewish State’s Striking Power
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by Algemeiner Staff
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Photo: Jonathan Klinger via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel’s defense chief has ordered the IDF to look into purchasing hundreds of new surface-to-surface missiles that would bolster the Jewish state’s striking power, the Hebrew news site nrg reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli-made missiles Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman wants the IDF to acquire have a range of 250 kilometers (around 155 miles) and can carry warheads weighing up to 450 kilograms (just under 1,000 pounds).
“We have no choice,” an unnamed Israeli security official was quoted by nrg as saying. “I think reality requires us to diversify and missiles of this type give us many options.”
The buying of such missiles — with their superior accuracy and potency — would “mark a significant change in our approach and outlook,” the official continued.
The missiles, according to the report, cost 3 million shekels (around $781,000 apiece).
Earlier this month — according to a number of media reports — Israel targeted a Syrian air base near Damascus with surface-to-surface missiles as part of its efforts to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to the Lebanon-based Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah. The Syrian capital is located only about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Israel in the Golan Heights.
Two weeks ago, as reported in The Algemeiner, Lieberman said Israel was doing “what is necessary” to prevent Syria from funneling weaponry to Hezbollah.
Speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Lieberman stated that Israel had “no interest in intervening in the civil war in Syria,” but its primary concern was to “first and foremost maintain public security and defend our sovereignty.”
“Our policies and positions are very clear, and they are based on three red lines: We will not allow any harm to come to the Israeli public, we will not allow anyone to undermine Israel’s sovereignty and we will not allow the smuggling of sophisticated weapons or chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon and to Hezbollah,” Lieberman declared.
