Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel was said to have suspended a major missile defense program.

Officials said the Defense Ministry has shelved plans to accelerate development of the David’s Sling missile defense system.

The officials said the ministry and military were not sustaining the program, also financed by the United States, amid deep defense budget cuts in Israel.

“If I had the money, I would have more Iron Dome batteries,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, referring to the short-range system, said.

In an address to an air conference on May 21, Ya’alon acknowledged difficulties in maintaining David’s Sling, developed by Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the U.S. firm Raytheon. The defense minister said the lower-tier system could fall short of plans for initial deployment in 2015.

This marked the first government threat against a major Israeli missile defense program.

Earlier, senior officials asserted that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would maintain ballistic missile defense programs, particularly Iron Dome and Arrow-3. The programs were designed to counter Iran and such proxies as Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad.

Ya’alon, who has requested an additional $700 million to maintain
operations, said the budget crisis was blocking training programs for the
military, particularly the reserves. He said the military was struggling
with decisions on programs because of the uncertainty of funding.

“I could understand if these [budget cutting] measures were occurring
during an economic crisis,” Ya’alon said. “But this is far from being the
case.”

  Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel shelves ‘David’s Sling’ as budget cuts take toll, Moshe Ya’alon, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Raytheon