RAMALLAH: Israel is to install a twin radar antennae near its Dimona nuclear plant, but senior Israeli defense officials expressed fears that the newly deployed US X-band radar facility in the Negev Desert will reveal the secrets of Israeli Army.
The two massive radar antennae near the nuclear site is to bolster Israel’s defense measures against Iran, the Maariv newspaper reported yesterday. The 400 meter-high antennae will be erected near a top-secret military site where Israel is widely believed to have developed the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, the paper said.
But an Israeli defense official, quoted by Time magazine, said although the radar would enhance Israel’s protection against Iran it might also reveal Israel’s military secrets to the US.
“It’s a like a pair of golden handcuffs on Israel,” the official told the magazine. “Even a husband and wife have a few things they would like to keep from each other,” said the official. “Now we’re standing without our clothes on in front of America.”
The early-warning radar system’s arrival in Israel last Sunday was kept under tight wraps until it was revealed over the weekend by Defense News, an industry newsletter. The system was deployed in the Nevatim air base in the Negev along with a 120-member support team to strengthen Israel’s defense against missiles if the Jewish state and/or the United States attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities
The radar will allow the US to keep a close watch on anything moving in Israeli skies, “even a bee,” a top Israeli official, who asked not to be identified, told Time.
According to the current plan, US soldiers will control the radar, which will be connected to the Israeli Air Force’s Arrow control room in Palmahim military base in southern Israel.
Israeli sources said last Sunday that an Israeli forces request to permit Israeli soldiers to control the radar had been declined.
