Danny Gold

Danny Gold led the development of Iron Dome, the short-range rocket interception system that changed the calculus of rocket attacks on Israel. He served in the Israel Defense Forces and rose to brigadier general, heading the research and development directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and holds doctorates in engineering. The problem he addressed emerged from two conflicts. Rocket fire from Gaza on the towns of the western Negev, and the roughly four thousand rockets fired by Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon war, demonstrated that cheap unguided rockets could displace populations and paralyse civilian life. The military consensus at the time was that intercepting them was not economically viable, since each interceptor would cost far more than the rocket it destroyed. Gold's argument was that the comparison was wrong: the relevant cost was the damage prevented and the strategic freedom gained, not the price of the rocket. The system was designed around a radar and a battle-management component that calculates each rocket's predicted impact point and fires only at those heading for populated areas or infrastructure, ignoring the majority that will land in open ground. That selectivity is what makes the economics work. He authorised development in 2005 and pushed it forward before formal budgetary approval, for which the state comptroller criticised him in a 2009 report; he was subsequently awarded the Israel Defense Prize. Rafael developed it, with later American funding, and the first battery was deployed in 2011. Interception rates in the region of ninety per cent have been reported for engaged targets. The system has been widely studied and has drawn debate about whether it reduces pressure for political settlement.

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