ASHDOD, Israel – Just last week, the imposing battery on an isolated field just outside this coastal Israeli city lit up with projectiles to counter the barrage of missiles fired from nearby Gaza. On Tuesday, it was the site of a visit from some of Georgia’s top elected officials.
Gov. Brian Kemp and other members of the state’s delegation to Israel on Tuesday received a detailed tour of the Iron Dome antimissile system and a briefing from senior Israeli military officials on the weapon’s capabilities.
The system first became operational in 2011 and has been tested repeatedly in conflicts since then, as militants in Gaza, Syria and southern Lebanon lob volleys of missiles at Israeli cities and settlements.
The system went into action during a fresh spate of violence last week, when the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad militia fired hundreds of missiles at Israel.
The Iron Dome’s interceptors, which rely on a sophisticated network of sensors, knocked down more than 90% of the targeted projectiles, according to military officials. A larger interception system, known as David’s Sling, downed a rocket headed for the urban metropolis of Tel Aviv.
Israel retaliated with attacks that killed several of the militant group’s commanders, along with several civilians. A ceasefire was struck just before the delegation’s trip that ended the five-day conflict. At least 33 people in Gaza and two in Israel were killed during the escalation.
