By Walter E. Block
Israel has three air defense systems (ADS): Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow. Together, the blast away at incoming missiles, rockets, drones and anything else of that ilk, and render them harmless. Between the three of them, they cover lower heights, medium ones and higher paths of enemy trajectories.
Are they an unmitigated blessing to the only civilized country in the Middle East? At the outset, this seems not only like a stupid question, but an evil one too. It would appear to have only one clear answer: a clear and present yes! Over the last few months, all sorts of armament have come floating in to Israel and raining down on its citizenry, thanks to the “courtesy” of Hamas, first, then Hezbollah and now Iran, too. Thanks to the ADS, countless Israeli lives have been saved, as these munitions have been destroyed.
What, pray tell, is the case for the other side? How can it even be thought, much less seriously discussed by a fervent supporter of the Jewish State such as I, that the ADS can possibly be a problem?
Suppose, arguendo, that this life saving apparatus had not been available. There was a time in history when Israel was under attack (was it never not under attack?) when this was true. This certainly pertained to the wars of 1948 and 1967 and quite a few after that. The ADS was not first deployed until 2011. And yet, somehow, Israel survived.
How so? There was a white-hot determination to win these wars. There was no pussyfooting around. The IDF and the Israeli Air Force went straight for the jugular. They were not deterred by any calls for peace or cease fires. They went straight at ‘em. They ignored the pleas emanating from their fair weather friends in the US and in many European countries. They were not unduly worried about world opinion, sanctions coming from these directions; nor about anything else for that matter, except for a quick and decisive victory.
If the ADS did not exist, today, neither would Iran. This country long ago have been fully pulverized. Under our assumptions, without the ADS, that would have been the only way to ensure no incoming bomb from that country nor from Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthies in the Red Sea.
Do I advocate the elimination of the ADS? Of course not. That is an even sillier question than the one raised above. Instead, I recommend that Israel act as if these defenses did not exist.
What would the Jewish State do, how would it act, if we assumed away the ADS, this shield. It would rely, more, on its sword. It military would not commit any precious soldiers in either Gaza nor Lebanon until virtually all resistance there was eliminated. The IDF has lost all too many of its members on the basis of a too early commitment, mainly in an unappreciated by world opinion attempt to reduce collateral damage. These precious men should be limited to mopping up operations, not engaging in face to face fighting. No more going into booby trapped places; knock ‘em down first, then go in. The IDF has a comparative advantage over enemy fighters of what? Two to one? Three to one? Five to one? Who knows? But its comparative advantage from the air force has got to be at least in the three figure multiples, if not four figures. That is, 100 to 1, 1000 to 1!
Of the greatest importance, Iran would no longer be a functioning country if Israel acted as if it could no longer rely on the ADS. Nor would this be limited, merely, to destroying all of its nuclear facilities (Biden has opposed this; good; we now know even the more that this is precisely what Israel should do). The only question for Iran would be whether this should be a conditional surrender, where the lives of some of the elderly leaders would be spared, or an unconditional one, of the sort imposed upon Germany and Japan at the end of World War II. A Nuremberg Trial is what these totalitarian dictators deserve.
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