Israeli devotion to country key to defense: envoy
Israel’s success in defending itself from a recent Iranian drone and missile attack was due not only to its efficient air defense system, but also its citizens’ commitment to the survival of their country, an Israeli diplomat has said.
Israeli Representative to Taiwan Maya Yaron said on Wednesday last week that her country’s Iron Dome missile defense system was key to the successful defense of Iran’s “unprecedented” drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13.
Yet beyond the technology and the preparation Israel has made for its defense, “in the end it all comes to the human spirit,” she said.
“There is a lot of commitment from citizens to the survival of our country,” said Yaron, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, which represents Israeli interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
The bottom line is that there are about 50 Muslim countries worldwide, and there is only one Jewish country, she said.
“We have nowhere else to go and that means that each and every one of us Israelis feel the commitment to protect our homeland,” she said.
Iran’s attack was the first-ever direct attack by Iran from its soil on Israeli territory.
Iran said it was in response to an attack on its embassy complex in Damascus at the beginning of this month, which it blamed on Israel. Israel has not confirmed or denied being involved in the attack. Israel is also under criticism from Iran and the international community for its continuous large-scale attacks on Gaza, which have killed 34,000 people and wounded 77,000, health authorities under the Hamas-run Gaza government said.
Israel has argued that its attacks are defensive acts in response to Hamas’ killing and kidnapping of more than 1,000 Israeli citizens in October last year.
Asked if there was a possibility that Israel would sell the Iron Dome air defense system to Taiwan, which is also facing a significant missile threat from China, the envoy said she was “not sure of that” as the system was developed by an Israeli company.
“But I think that there are other issues that we can probably cooperate on and that will be very beneficial to Taiwan,” she said.
For instance, she said, the Israeli people’s high spirit in protecting their country is “coming through education from a very young age.”
“And this is something that we can probably have a good exchange [with Taiwan] about, and we can discuss how you create that type of solidarity within the people,” Yaron said.
Taiwan and Israel have a pen pal project for young school children in both countries to exchange their cultures in English, she said.
Facilitating more frequent and multilevel exchanges between the two sides is one of her major missions, Yaron said.