The Gaza Rocket War
Uzi Rubin, President, Rubincon Defense Consulting Ltd.
Comment by Michael Elleman, Visiting Senior Fellow for Missile Defense, IISS-US
Moderated by Dr Andrew Parasiliti, Executive Director, IISS-US, Corresponding Director, IISS-Middle East
Thursday, 11 June 2009
1850 K Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
On 11 June, IISS-US hosted Uzi Rubin, President of Rubincon Defense Consulting and former Head of Israel’s Missile Defence Organization. Rubin discussed the rocket attacks by Hamas and the Israeli army’s response in Gaza from December 2008 through January 2009. Michael Elleman, Visiting Senior Fellow for Missile Defense, IISS-US, offered comments on Rubin’s presentation. Rubin described the components used in the construction of the rockets, and identified how Israeli civil defence measures adopted after the Hizballah attacks in 2006 were successful in limiting civilian casualties during the Gaza rocket war. Rubin concluded by advocating both for the need to accelerate the development of Israel’s active missile defence technology, called ‘Iron Dome,’ and for Israel to continue to employ ‘overwhelming retaliation’ to deter future attacks.
Uzi Rubin is President of Rubincon Defense Consulting Ltd. in Israel. He established the Israel Missile Defense Organization in January 1991 and headed it until July 1999. Mr Rubin was in charge of Israel’s Arrow missile defense program from initial design through full-scale development and testing, to series manufacturing and operational deployment.
