U.S. army deploys radar system in Israel

The New York Times

JERUSALEM — The United States Army has deployed an advanced American radar system on Israeli soil, an official here said Sunday, allowing early detection of incoming ballistic missiles and enhancing Israel’s defensive capability against any potential attack by Iran.

The system will be operated initially by an American crew.

No official announcement has been made by either the Americans or the Israelis about the arrival of the system. The Israeli Army said in a statement that while it “enjoys longstanding strategic cooperation” with all branches of the American military, it is not its practice to discuss details of the bilateral activities.

But an official confirmed a report on Friday in Defense News, a weekly American newspaper published by The Army Times, saying that the radar system had been flown to Israel in parts over the past week and was being installed in the Negev Desert. The official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, added that it would serve not only Israel, but the United States, too.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said: “We are committed to working with the Israelis to enhance their defenses but don’t talk about specific equipment of weapons systems we may provide.”

There is growing concern in Israel and abroad over Iran’s nuclear program. While Iran’s leadership says it is developing a nuclear capability for civilian use, Israel and the Bush administration say that Iran is involved in a drive for nuclear weapons.

Yuval Steinitz, a member of the Likud Party in Parliament who holds a seat on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said in a recent interview that Iran was aiming to become a nuclear power with a global reach, and that its ballistic missiles already threatened Paris.

Also on Sunday, Ehud Olmert, the departing prime minister of Israel, strongly condemned last week’s pipe bomb attack against Zeev Sternhell, a Hebrew University professor, suggesting that it was the work of an ultranationalist Jewish underground group.

Mr. Sternhell, an outspoken critic of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, was lightly wounded by the pipe bomb when it exploded outside his Jerusalem home late Wednesday night.

“An evil wind of extremism, of hatred, of malice, of violence, of running amok, of breaking the law, of contempt for the institutions of the state is blowing through certain sections of the Israeli public and threatens Israeli democracy,” Mr. Olmert said, adding that it was affecting “the ability of those entrusted by the state of Israel to make decisions.”

Tension simmered in the West Bank over the weekend, with a number of cases of stone-throwing between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, an army spokeswoman said. Palestinians shot at an Israeli civilian car on Saturday near the settlement of Ariel, lightly wounding one passenger, she said.

Around midnight on Saturday, the body of a young Palestinian shepherd was found in the West Bank, the Israeli police said. The shepherd, Yahya Atta Bani Menna, 17, from the village of Aqraba, had been shot. Local Palestinians blamed his death on Jewish settlers. The police said they were investigating all possibilities, including whether he had been killed by family members, other Palestinians or Jews.