Vilnai: We're considering deploying Iron Dome in Haifa

Home Front defense minister meets with Oil Refineries heads, says that Iron Dome rocket defense system is integral part of defending refineries which are critical during times of emergency.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Matan Vilnai 311 (photo credit: Yaakov Katz)
Matan Vilnai 311
(photo credit: Yaakov Katz)
Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Tuesday that security officials were considering whether to deploy a battery of the Iron Dome rocket defense system in Haifa Bay.
Vilnai's comments came just two days after the Syrian military test fired a Scud-B ballistic missile and other short range rockets.RELATED: Lebanese rockets - an indirect message?Lebanon files UN complaint against Israel
Vilnai met with Oil Refineries CEO Pinchas Buchris as well as the group's chairman Yossi Rosen, and discussed with them the issue of protecting oil refineries and the continued supply of fuel during a future war.The Home Front defense minister said during the meeting "we are considering deploying a battery of the Iron Dome in Haifa Bay as an integral part of defending the oil refineries."
"The continued functioning of the oil refineries is critical and necessary for the economy in times of emergency," Vilnai added.
Vilnai made the comments hours after Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel is taking precautions and is tracking the transfer of arms from Syria to Lebanon amid concern that Hezbollah is trying to move advanced weaponry out of Syria.
Touring the Golan Heights, Barak said that the Syrian missile test on Sunday was conducted out of fear and that Bashar Assad’s regime would fall in the near future. Israel is concerned that Hezbollah is planning to move advanced weaponry it has been storing in Syria to Lebanon to prevent it from being captured by opposition groups which are fighting against Assad.“It is now quiet here but a few days ago just a few hundred kilometers northeast of here we saw the launching of different rockets,” Barak said on the sidelines of an exercise of the Golani Brigade which he attended together with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz. “It could be that the fire was part of a demonstration of capabilities but it is more about fear and distress than about confidence.”
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.


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