Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday announced the hastened development of a laser defense system that will be used to defend against attacks from Gaza and Hezbollah.
The new lasers, which one rabbi calls a "biblical pillar of fire," uses an autonomous detection and tracking system and is designed to superheat drones and rockets, which designers said will be set ablaze in mere seconds.
According to Israel 365 News, the new border defense from Israel will supplement the Iron Dome that protects against short-range projectiles with lasers that target smaller projectiles. According to the Israel Defense Ministry, the new border defense's laser uses a "highly advanced optical targeting system, with tracking capabilities and artificial intelligence" to locate a target "at highly precise levels of accuracy."
Israel's border defense also utilizes David's Sling and Arrow systems for addressing long-range ballistic missiles.
"Within a year already the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will bring into action a laser-based interception system, first experimentally, and later operationally, first in the south, then in other places," Bennett said in his spech at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. "And this will enable us, as the years advance, to surround Israel with a wall of lasers which will protect us from missiles, rockets, UAVs and other threats."
The addition of the "biblical pillar of fire" laser-based system will help Israel reduce the cost of defending against the frequent rocket attacks against the country. The Iron Dome systems costs about $50 million per battery and about $100,000 to 150,000 per interception of each missile from the Hamas militant group, which uses low-tech missiles that are inexpensive and inaccurate.
In May 2021, more than 4,600 projectiles were fired at Israeli from the Gaza Strip. The Lebanese Hezbollah terror group is believed to have as much as 130,000 rockets and missiles to use in attacking Israeli cities.
"The equation will be overturned - they will invest much, and we little," Bennett said of the addition to the country's border defense. "If we can intercept a missile or rocket with an electrical pulse that costs a few dollars, we will essentially neutralize the ring of fire that Iran has set up."
Meanwhile, Rabbi Aryeh Weingarten expressed pleasure and admiration for Israel's advancement in border defense, WND reported. The rabbi remarked, "Innovations and inventions are simply the mind of man reflecting the aspect of God that is in nature."
"Bennett's vision of a 'wall of lasers' is a reflection of the 'biblical pillar of fire' that accompanied the children of Israel in their Exodus, protecting the Jews from Egyptian arrows," Rabbi Weingarten remarked.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Bennett's announcement on the acceleration of the new laser system offered some details on when it will be deployed. The Israeli Prime Minister said in a speech that the laser-based interception system is expected to operate within the year "first experimentally, and later operationally, first in the south, then in other places."
