JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian rockets will hit Tel Aviv in any future conflict in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s civil defense minister said.
Matan Vilnai, opening an international missile-defense conference outside Israel’s biggest city, said Monday that guerrilla enemies such as Hamas and Hezbollah were racing to improve the reach of their rockets.
“In the next conflict with Gaza, even if it at a much lower intensity than a war, missiles will fall on Gush Dan — for all purposes, inside Tel Aviv,” Vilnai said.
He outlined Israel’s counter-measures, which include missile interceptors, civilian bomb shelters and a deterrent posture signaling readiness to retaliate hard for attacks on the homefront.
Yet Israel remained challenged by its geographical smallness and multiplicity of foes, Vilnai said.
“There is no country in the world that is threatened like the State of Israel,” he said. “The only country that approximates it is South Korea.”
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