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A defense policy organization is calling on the Trump administration to make Israeli air-defense systems a cornerstone of Golden Dome, the comprehensive missile-defense initiative designed to detect and neutralize ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft threatening U.S. territory. The Jewish Institute for National Security of America released the analysis as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss Iran and regional security matters.
The report argues that current Pentagon planning overemphasizes expensive, space-based technologies with extended development timelines while underestimating immediate vulnerabilities to low-altitude threats. According to the analysis, drone and cruise-missile incursions pose more frequent dangers than long-range ballistic weapons, citing recent unmanned aircraft activity over major American cities including the nation’s capital as evidence of this emerging risk.
Author Ari Cicurel told Fox News Digital that layered defenses require balanced funding between strategic long-range systems and near-term protective capabilities. He emphasized that Israeli platforms—Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow and Iron Beam—could address short and medium-range threats more cost-effectively than comparable American alternatives, potentially freeing Pentagon resources for space-based components.
Cost comparisons in the report show Israeli-designed systems substantially cheaper across multiple categories: launchers at 58 to 88 percent less, interceptors at 19 to 97 percent less and radar equipment at 32 to 87 percent less than U.S. equivalents. The savings could expand defensive coverage while maintaining investment in advanced technologies, JINSA contends.
A Pentagon official declined to specify whether the department is evaluating Israeli systems for purchase or integration, citing operational security concerns. The official reiterated that Golden Dome remains in active development as a dynamic, layered architecture addressing threats across the full spectrum of emerging weapons.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in May that a notional national missile-defense system consistent with Trump’s executive order could cost approximately $1.2 trillion over two decades, though the office noted this projection does not reflect actual Pentagon architecture plans due to insufficient public detail.
Cicurel emphasized that acquiring Israeli defenses represents leveraging American taxpayer investment that already funded their development, with 102 companies across 34 U.S. states participating in their production. The report recommends dedicated Golden Dome funding, expanded joint manufacturing, and inclusion of air-defense cooperation in the next bilateral U.S.-Israel defense memorandum.
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