How “Star Wars” saved Israel

The people of Israel owe Ronald Reagan a debt of gratitude, says Daniel Henninger. For he was the ultimate originator of the missile-defence systems that protected them from Iran’s recent missile barrage. In 1983, Reagan proposed what he called the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), an ambitious plan to create systems, some of them potentially space-based, that could shoot down nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. Critics mocked the scheme, nicknaming it “Star Wars”, and warned that it could provoke a response from the Soviets. Then-senator Joe Biden said that Reagan’s pursuit of the plan constituted “one of the most reckless and irresponsible acts in the history of modern statecraft”. But Israel quickly recognised the value of missile-defence technology and signed a deal to help the US deliver it. The “fruits of that four-decade partnership” were on full display the other night. It’s ironic that “ardent SDI foe” Biden pocketed political benefit from it. If we’ve learnt anything over the past three years, it’s that Biden is “saturated in the don’t-provoke-a-response school of foreign policy”. He urged Israel not to hit back against Iran in case doing so provoked a wider war. He has consistently “slow-walked” sending vital military technology to Ukraine for fear of provoking Vladimir Putin. It’s fortunate for Israel that Reagan was more proactive.