{"id":104324,"date":"2026-01-19T02:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/104324\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T02:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:26:11","slug":"graham-hints-at-israeli-role-in-trumps-golden-dom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/104324\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham hints at Israeli role in Trump\u2019s ‘Golden Dom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid denials from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of any delays in delivering Arrow 3 interceptor missiles to the Israeli Air Force, officials at the state-owned defense contractor are expressing hope that Israel will be included in the development of the U.S \u201cGolden Dome\u201d initiative, a multi-layered air defense system championed by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

That hope may have gained traction Sunday following a high-level meeting between U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his visit to Israel, Graham also met with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar and Mossad Director David Barnea.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/a>\"\u05e8\u05d0\u05e9<\/p>\n

US Senator Lindsey Graham and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <\/p>\n

(Photo: GPO)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister convinced me that Israel is developing weapons that will change the future of warfare,\u201d Graham told reporters following the meeting with Netanyahu, adding that the Israeli leader had expressed willingness to collaborate with the United States and said he would return to Washington and treat the potential joint project “as a ’21st-century Manhattan Project.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham did not specify which weapons system was under discussion, but his remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to the Golden Dome, the ambitious U.S. missile defense program inspired by Israel\u2019s Iron Dome system.<\/p>\n

Announced by Trump last year, the Golden Dome is envisioned as a four-tiered defense network that would include space-based interceptors and 11 short-range missile batteries deployed across the United States. Trump has said the system will be operational before the end of his current term.<\/p>\n

Officials in Israel view potential involvement in the program as both a strategic opportunity and a validation of Israel\u2019s technological edge in air defense, especially if the project receives high-priority backing from both the White House and senior members of Congress.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d3\u05d5\u05e0\u05dc\u05d3<\/a>\"\u05d3\u05d5\u05e0\u05dc\u05d3<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump reveals the Golden Dome <\/p>\n

(Photo: REUTERS\/Kevin Lamarque)<\/p>\n

IAI CEO Boaz Levy said over the weekend at a conference of the Israeli-American Council that \u201cI believe the technological contribution to both nations will also serve the United States, and we want to be part of it, even though we know we need a prime contractor in the U.S. and that the system must be produced there. But when you have an ally like this and the level of cooperation is so high, it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levy said the \u201cGolden Dome\u201d is a unique architecture designed to defend the United States against ballistic missiles. \u201cThis can be done, as in Israel, through ground-based capabilities that intercept ballistic missiles; it can be done from space, and there are many activities involved,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe that the technology we are sharing together, and the maturity the system has demonstrated over the past two years, are the key to the future. We believe we can cooperate with an American company to bring these capabilities to the United States as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The central challenge in developing the concept stems from the sweeping goal set by President Trump for the Pentagon. Unlike Israel\u2019s Iron Dome, which was developed with U.S. assistance to defend limited areas against short-range rockets, the new system is intended to protect the entire United States from ballistic missiles and advanced hypersonic weapons. Trump has directed that the system be based on satellites in space.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Israel Aerospace Industries rejected reports claiming the company is delaying delivery of Arrow 3 interceptor missiles to the Israeli Air Force, which would leave Israel without full defensive readiness in the event of an Iranian strike in response to a U.S. attack on Tehran. Industry sources described the claims as \u201cpure spin,\u201d saying that even before June’s 12-day war against Iran, Arrow missile production lines had been operating at full capacity, seven days a week.<\/p>\n

They said production has recently accelerated further after bottlenecks in obtaining certain missile components from abroad were resolved following the lifting of an embargo on Israel.<\/p>\n

IAI has decided not to convert older Arrow 2 interceptors from the IDF\u2019s stockpile into advanced Arrow versions, instead focusing on speeding up production of the new Arrow 4 and delivering it to the air force in the coming months. The company also assessed that the start of missile production for the German military\u2014under the two phases already agreed to in the deal signed recently and shortly before Oct. 7\u2014will have a positive impact on continued deliveries to the IDF, since the version produced for Germany is also suitable for Israeli use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no budget issue here,\u201d company officials said. \u201cWe are producing Arrow missiles nonstop in close coordination with the Defense Ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid denials from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of any delays in delivering Arrow 3 interceptor missiles to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-104324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}