Israel must work with the United States to advance missile defense capabilities, soon, before Iran develops nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems that could annihilate Israel, the U.S.-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) stated.

Terming Israel "a nation under threat," MDAA chairman and founder Riki Ellison said Israel must be applauded for its multi-layered ballistic missile defense system.

That system is being developed just as the United States is developing and deploying its own multi-layered missile defense system.

Understanding the four major Israeli missile defense systems (Arrow 2, David’s Sling, Iron Dome, and Arrow 3) "through in-depth briefings from the chief engineers and program managers validates the efficiency of doing more with less from the Israeli self grown systems, with their U.S. partnerships and support," Ellison said after a trip to Israel.

The key here is that missile defense systems aren’t offensive weapons, but rather are defensive, preventing wars, Ellison stated.

"Missile defense prevents low intensity conflicts from becoming wars, providing the leaders of the Knesset [Israeli Parliament] other options other than ones that cost lives," Ellison said.

He referred to years when Israel has been attacked with enormous numbers of enemy missiles, forcing the Israeli military to respond with conventional warfare tactics. But if enemy missiles can’t reach cities and towns, shopping centers and schools, in Israel thanks to missile defense, then that means fewer soldiers in the Israel Defense Force must be sent into combat and die, Ellison stated.

Each missile defense success thus proves missile defense can deescalate and stabilize future crisis, Ellison added.

For Israel, missile defense is an existential necessity, not a luxury, he continued.

"The future survival of the country of Israel may depend on its missile defense capability and the U.S. missile defense assets in the region to defend and protect against Iran’s ballistic missile force and its soon-to-be-acquired nuclear weapons," Ellison stated. "This is clearly the number one threat to Israel and this threat will require not only interoperability of the various missile defense systems but most important a ‘zero leakage’ or 99 percent capability to destroy an incoming ballistic missile."

To ensure that no enemy missile gets through to hit a target in Israel means the tiny nation must possess a multi-layered shield, where one missile defense system can attempt to hit an enemy missile shortly after it launches, and if that doesn’t work, then having another Israeli system hit the enemy weapon later in its trajectory, and so on.

"This means being able to have the capability to look, shoot, look, shoot, look, shoot, shoot at a missile during its entire flight," Ellison said. "The capability required involves multiple radars to track and discriminate as well as defensive missiles that can shoot in the upper tier of space, the lower tier of space and the higher and lower atmosphere."

Israel is about to gain the benefit of a U.S. radar, operated by U.S. personnel, being set up in Israel. (Please see separate story in this issue.)

"Today Israel does not have this capability nor do the current U.S. regional assets have this capability," Ellison warned. "Missile defense deployment and development here is much needed and encouraged prior to Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon."

Even without nuclear weapons being involved, Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon used thousands of Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles to strike Israeli targets, including civilians."

"This threat continues to grow exponentially as many of these countries have eliminated their resources for air forces and put them into ballistic missiles and rockets, as they have proven far more effective and efficient for their military and political objectives," Ellison noted.

He said he viewed firsthand the horrific damage that enemy missiles can cause, when he "visited the town of Sderot a little less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, where this year alone 1,460 rockets were fired by Hamas into Sderot."