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Israel Successfully Tests Arrow-3 Anti-Missile System, Sending Strong Warning to Iran

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JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel and the US successfully tested the Arrow-3 anti-missile system early Tuesday, the ministry of defense said. 

The test came just one day after tensions flared along Israel's northern border with Syria.

The Arrow-3 system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, like the kind Iran could one day launch against Israel, intercepting them outside the atmosphere. 

The Arrow is part of Israel's multi-layered defense that includes the Iron Dome and David's Sling. 

That missile defense system was put to the test on Sunday when Iranian forces inside Syria launched a rocket towards Israel's Mount Hermon ski resort on the Golan Heights. 

Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket system intercepted the rocket.

Israel launched a massive retaliatory strike at Iranian targets inside Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is carrying out what he called pre-emptive self-defense.

"Israel will continue to block Iran's efforts to use Syria Lebanon and Gaza as forward bases for attacking Israel for the express purpose which they openly declare - destroying Israel.  No country should stand aside while its destruction is being planned or advanced and Israel exercises its basic right of self-defense and preemptive self-defense, a right that exists for every nation," Netanyahu said.

Syrian lawmaker Fatmeh Khamis said the Israeli strikes only aimed at Syrian targets.

"Our air defenses confronted these jets and shot them all down. They are not targeting Iranians or any of our other allies, they are targeting Syrian forces," Khamis said.

But according to the IDF, it's the third time Iran has tried to attack Israel over the last year and showed how deeply entrenched Iran is in Syria.

"Syria is now paying the price for allowing Iran its expansionist policies from Syrian soil. The IDF remains committed and determined to continue to defend Israeli civilians and sovereignty against Iranian aggression," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, IDF spokesman.
 

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About The Author

Julie Stahl
Julie
Stahl

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism, then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91, and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel’s wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the