For Israel, the best defense is always a good offense

R

onald Reagan would be proud of Israel if he were still alive today.

Skeptics ridiculed Reagan when he proposed to a nationwide television audience in March 1983 that the US develop a space-based laser system to shoot down incoming enemy missiles. His critics dubbed it “Star Wars,” calling it just another one of Reagan’s Cold War military fantasies aimed at intimidating the Soviet Union.

Later this month, Israel will turn Reagan’s “fantasy” into reality when the IDF deploys its new portable laser system, the Iron Beam, a portable device that resembles the equipment your ophthalmologist uses to check your eyes. Iron Beam uses precision-guided lasers to deflect multiple threats at once, shooting down swarms of drones, rockets, and even cruise missiles, destroying them before they strike their intended targets.

Rafael, one of Israel’s top defense companies, developed Iron Beam along with Elbit, another major Israeli defense contractor. The deployment of Iron Beam after decades of research is good news for Israelis, still traumatized by running for shelter at all times of day and night, during the course of more than 30,000 aerial attacks over the past two years.

According to Rafael’s product prospectus, its Iron Beam “can operate as a stand-alone unit, be integrated with a variety of platforms, or become part of a multilayered air defense system.”

While the US defense industry has taken Reagan’s dream seriously and developed comparable devices, Israel’s Iron Beam will be the world’s first operational laser-interception system. Rafael has been cooperating with US defense giants Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to create a US variant. Abraham Accords partners have taken notice of Iron Beam, with the UAE considering a purchase.

The IDF tested a version of the Iron Beam during the later stages of the war against Hezbollah and conducted additional tests in southern Israel in recent months before declaring the system battle-ready. Unlike the Iron Dome, which costs nearly $50,000 per interception, Iron Beam can neutralize multiple threats at once, engaging targets at lightning-fast speeds for less than $1 per shot.

Operators can recalibrate the laser after firing, correcting distortions and deviations as it travels through the atmosphere, according to Dr. Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University and a recognized expert in laser development and research.

Dr. Kalisky warns that no system is foolproof. Cloud cover, rain, fog, smoke, dust storms, and other atmospheric factors limit the laser’s effective range to five or six miles. However, the last word has not yet been spoken: “These limitations can be addressed through various means, which will not be elaborated upon here,” Dr. Kalisky wrote.

While Israel can rightly be proud of its latest technological achievement, the defense and political leadership must avoid their tendency to take the first punch and rely on its celebrated defenses.

The best defense is still a good offense. There are times Israel will need to strike its enemies first and decisively, rather than absorbing blows until the international community gives a green light, saying, “We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself,” and Israel graciously thanks them for their “moral” support.

Mid-Course Corrections in Trump Plan

Air defenses won’t impact the ground war in Gaza, which still festers. Israel is taking the offensive in the 53% of Gaza it controls, rooting out terrorists and destroying their infrastructure. Meanwhile, Hamas was stalling by consolidating control over the remaining 47%, knowing that UN Resolution 2803, sponsored by the US, which includes President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, would be in limbo until they released the bodies of the two remaining hostages, one Israeli and one Thai citizen.

Israel should use this delay to demand two key clarifications of Resolution 2803, one of which calls for establishing an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to oversee the demilitarization of Hamas.

Amine Ayoub, a Morocco-based policy analyst at the Middle East Forum, pointed out that the resolution’s language expands the ISF’s area of operation beyond Gaza by including “adjacent logistical corridors” and infrastructure inside Israel as vital to stabilization.

“This language is a catastrophe of ambiguity,” Ayoub warns, noting that its broad scope could threaten Israeli sovereignty in the Western Negev, including its control of highways, hospitals, and even the Ashkelon desalination plant, which supplies up to 20% of Israel’s drinking water.

Ayoub says Israel has a narrow window to clarify this before Trump’s “Board of Peace” officially convenes in January 2026 by issuing a “state interpretive declaration,” a diplomatic tool that clarifies how a state interprets a vague treaty. It should specify that “adjacent logistical corridors” refer only to transit rights for specific convoys and do not confer any territorial jurisdiction, and that all infrastructure within the 1949 Armistice Lines remains under Israeli law, regardless of its role in Gaza reconstruction.

Meanwhile, the NGO Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) warned that both the body and the annex of Resolution 2803 reference the Saudi-French initiative, which the UN General Assembly passed in September by a 142-10 vote. The Saudi-French plan mentions the “right of return” for descendants of Arabs who fled Israel, mainly at Arab leaders’ urging, during the 1948 War of Independence. The right of return would be disastrous for Israel, leading to a flood of Muslim “refugees.” Even the far left in Israel opposes the right of return.

No one expects the US to support the right of return. The US voted against the Saudi-French plan and does not support a Palestinian state, much less the right of return. However, the fact that the US sponsored Resolution 2803, which includes references to the Saudi-French plan mentioning the right of return, leaves that issue open for future debate.

The International Stabilization Force may never be implemented. Most nations will hesitate to send troops into Gaza as long as Hamas remains armed and dangerous. Israel, meanwhile, vetoes the participation of others, including Turkey and possibly Indonesia. Like many other UN resolutions that meddle in the Middle East, Resolution 2803 might fade into history.

With everything still up in the air, Israel might prefer to let sleeping dogs lie, but silence won’t be golden if the Trump plan materializes. Israel needs to be diplomatically proactive, clear up any ambiguities, and make sure everyone understands its red lines.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1089)