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"Leaving the residents of Sderot and the Western Negev settlements to
face Hamas rocket shooting for years when there are reliable and available
solutions to protect the civilians, is a grave failure and an inconceivable
outrage," Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and Alon Davidi, who represent the
petitioners, said in a statement.
The suit asserted that THEL could intercept short-range missiles and
rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The petitioners also asked the court to
order the Olmert government to deploy the U.S.-origin Sky Guard laser-based
system near the Gaza border by 2010.
In 2001, Israel refused to deploy THEL along the border with Lebanon.
The Israeli military determined that THEL, a system the size of a house, was
too large for operational effectiveness.
Instead, Israel and the United States embarked on M-THEL, or a mobile
laser system that could be transported by boxcar. In 2005, the U.S. Army,
preferring other projects, canceled M-THEL.
The suit by 70 Israelis alleged that the Israeli military and government
were grossly negligent in refusing to deploy THEL to protect the Sderot
area. The petitioners asserted that THEL destroyed all 46 incoming
projectiles in live fire tests in the late 1990s.
THEL, known as Nautilus in Israel, could be transported from the United
States and deployed in Sderot within the next six months, the suit said. The
reported cost of deployment would be $5 million.
"According to missile experts relied upon by the plaintiffs, an
examination of all shooting incidents towards Sderot in the last six years
shows that would the Nautilus have been stationed near the city six years
ago, there would have been no rockets falling on Sderot whatsoever," the
statement by the attorneys said.
The Defense Ministry has ordered the Iron Dome rocket defense system to
intercept Palestinian short-range missiles and rockets. But the ministry has
acknowledged that Iron Dome could not destroy incoming missiles with a
flight of less than 15 seconds.
"The failure to utilize the Nautilus system has resulted in the murder
and injuring of dozens of residents of Sderot," the statement by the
attorneys said. "The IDF has completely breached its duty to protect the
Negev's civilians. The lawsuit will expose that the Olmert government has
placed its own narrow interests before the safety of the residents of
Sderot."
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