Israel Unveils New Laser System to Shoot Down Terror Balloons from Gaza
JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli police are testing a new weapon to defend itself against the terror threat of explosive balloons sent across the border with Gaza.
Israeli police stationed on the Gaza border are now using a new laser-guided system "capable of shooting down balloons," Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
The new laser system is greatly needed. For more than two years, terrorists have attacked Israel, destroying land by sending fire kites and balloons packed with explosives across the border.
In the past month alone, the weapons have started more than 450 fires in southern Israel. Fortunately, the new laser system deployed by Israeli police is succeeding against this threat.
"The latest new guidance system has a success rate of more than 90% of shooting down the balloons. And we're doing that in order to prevent them from exploding inside community areas and causing injuries or possibly killing people," said Rosenfeld.
Dubbed "Lahav Or, Hebrew for Light Blade, the system, developed by OptiDefense, is designed to work alongside aircraft.
Ben Gurion University Professor and CEO of OptiDefense, Amiel Ishaaya is co-inventor of Lahav Or. He says this laser system could have an even greater use beyond Israel.
"We don't see any other balloon threat in the world except for here – maybe in South Korea or North Korea, or between that border. But the main business we see in it is anti-drone, anti-drone is a worldwide threat that is coming up," Ishaya told CBN News.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, recently announced a ceasefire so Israel would restore critical fuel shipments to Gaza.
If the past is any indication, Israelis realize ceasefires don't last very long. that's why the laser system is such a Godsend.
About The Author
Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel fulltime for more than 20 years.
Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009.
As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel’s wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights, as well as stories on the return of the Jewish people to their biblical homeland and archaeological stories that backup the Bible. She has traveled to Tanzania to cover Israeli doctors giving life-saving heart surgery to children there; to Poland to cover Holocaust-related events; to Paris to cover the Jewish response to the rise in anti-Semitism there; and Portugal to cover events surrounding the Bnei Anusim – Jews forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition, many of whom would now like to be recognized as Jews and return to Israel.
Julie is also an integral part of CBN News’ award-winning “Jerusalem Dateline”, a weekly show about events in the Middle East that is translated into multiple languages and has a broad viewership across the world.
As the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for CNSNews.com, from 1999-2008, Julie covered Israel’s pullout from Lebanon; traveled to both Egypt and Jordan to cover aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; covered the Second Intifadah, from 2000-2005 when terror attacks were sometimes a daily occurrence, Israel’s 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Her work included almost daily contact with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
While working as a news writer for METV, Julie covered the historic fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.
Julie received her bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Florida State University and master’s degree in Journalism from Regent University before heading to Israel, in 1987. She enjoys playing the guitar, having guests for Sabbath Eve meals, exploring, traveling, meeting people and gardening.
