The military on Wednesday will run a test of a new system designed to intercept Kassam rockets fired from Gaza. The ‘Tamir’, also being referred to as the “Kippat HaBarzel” (Iron Yarmulke) officials hope will provide a solution to rocket attacks into southern Israel, but engineers explain that even if the test is successful, they do not see the new unit going operational until 2010, not really what southern residents want to hear as they demand a major IDF operation in Gaza to bring an immediate halt to approximately eight years of rocket attacks.

The major hurdle is the fact that the system must detect and neutralize an incoming projectile in less than 30 seconds, and in some cases, in as short a time as 15 seconds due to the short distance between northern Gaza and southern Israel.

This is exactly what many warned against in 2005 when they opposed then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan, stating that in addition to throwing close to 10,000 Gush Katif residents into the street, and destroying a flourishing community, the move will bring Hamas terror into the heart of southern Israel.

At that time, Sharon and now President Shimon Peres, together with other strong supporters of the move reassured the nation, stating that if terrorists fire rockets into Israel, the response would be swift, decisive and painful. For now, Greater Sderot Area residents are still waiting for such a response as the daily attacks continue to claim a heavy toll on their lives.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)