____________________________________________ 2 IICC Perspectives Ehud Barak, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense as of the summer of 1999, probably preferred not to limit himself with a doctrine which would obligate him. In 2006, Shaul Mofaz, at the time Defense Minister, assigned the task to Dan Meridor again, who assembled a group of experts from the IDF, the defense systems, the defense industry, government ministries and academia. On Passover Eve their result was submitted to Mofaz's successor, Amir Peretz, but he was immediately caught up in the vortex of the Second Lebanon War and thrown aside. The team's work was presented in 2008 to the PoliticalSecurity Cabinet (led by Olmert and Barak), but was not formally approved and therefore not adopted as a new Israeli national security concept. The main conclusion of the group was to add a "fourth leg" to the concept's tripod, self-defense (including against cyber threats). Indeed, in the fifteen years that have passed since then, enormous efforts have been invested and a substantial portion of the defense budget has been cleared to mainly this "leg." Among the more prominent measures have been the expansion sheltered areas in the home front (the extensive construction of shelters and protected areas in the cities, towns and villages along the conflict lines, and requiring the construction of "safe rooms" and bomb shelters in every new residential building throughout the country); the establishment of sophisticated barriers, above and below ground, along Israel's borders; developing and equipping anti-missile, anti-rocket and anti-artillery defense: short range (the Iron Dome aerial defense system and the Iron Beam, an experimental system that uses laser beams), medium range (the Magic Wand and David's Slingshot), and long range-ballistic (the various versions of the Arrow). Shaul Mofaz Minister of Defense, 2006 (Photo-Government Press Office) Ehud Barak Prime and Defense Minister, 1999-2000 (Photo- Ministry of Defense website) Extensive construction of shelters and protected spaces (Photos - Eilat Municipality) protected spaces (Photo -“Mifram” website)
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