Israel deployed two Iron Dome batteries in the
north on Sunday, at least one of them near Haifa, stationing the missile
defense system in the north of the country for the first time amid
growing fears that Syrian chemical weapons may be turned against Israel.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
summoned Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter for a special
discussion regarding Syria’s chemical weapons and Israel’s preparedness.
The emergency meeting between Netanyahu and
Dichter had to do with recent developments regarding the stockpile of
weapons held by the Syrian regime, Ynet reported. Dichter is acting as
interim defense minister while outgoing Defense Minister Ehud Barak
heads home from the Davos Economic Forum.
Haifa was targeted by Hezbollah — a terror
group and Iranian proxy based in Lebanon – during the second Lebanon
war in 2006. The city and its port are considered by many to have
strategic importance.
Israel previously expressed concern about the possibility of chemical weapons being smuggled to Hezbollah or other terror groups.
Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said Sunday
the transfer of such weapons to Hezbollah would cross “a red line,” that
Israel couldn’t ignore.
Such a scenario “would be crossing a line that
would demand a different approach, including even action,” Shalom told
reporters. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said:
“We will have to make the decisions.”
The deployment of the anti-missile battery may
signal a new peak in fears by Israeli officials that the country could
come under attack from Syrian weapons.
Israeli officials also feared the possibility of Scud missiles or other advanced weapons reaching Hezbollah, Channel 2 reported.
In October, Israel deployed a Patriot
anti-missile battery to the port city, two days after a drone airplane,
reportedly launched by Hezbollah, penetrated Israel’s airspace.
Over the weekend, Turkey also activated a
number of Patriot missile batteries supplied by NATO along its border
with war-torn Syria.
Last week the defense establishment announced it had successfully tested an upgraded version of the homegrown Iron Dome platform, intercepting medium-range missiles.
Meant to protect strategic assets and heavy populated areas, the
Iron Dome system proved effective during Operation Pillar of Defense,
intercepting 84 percent of the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at
residential areas in Israel’s south and center.
Calling for a broad coalition
to deal with the threats Israel has to face, earlier in the morning
Netanyahu warned about possible deterioration in the north and a
possible escalation from Syria.
“We
must look around us, at what is happening in Iran and its proxies and
at what is happening in other areas, with the deadly weapons in Syria,
which is increasingly coming apart,” Netanyahu told ministers Sunday
morning.
Syria is believed to have one of the world’s
largest chemical weapons stockpiles, and some fear the arms may find
their way into the hands of terrorists should the Assad regime fall.
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