#215 - The Man Who Invented The Iron Dome (Chanoch Levin)

In 2019 Israel spent about 20 billion dollars on defense. That’s around 11 percent of its annual budget and puts Israel amongst some of the highest spenders on defense. All in all, makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that starting in the early 2000s, Israel was seeing a barrage of constant rocket fire from Gaza injuring hundreds, killing dozens and terrorizing entire communities. Sometimes all the money in the world won’t solve a problem. For that you need bright minds all set to a singular goal. And of course, someone to manage them. Chanoch Levin was that man. Chanoch was the project manager for Iron Dome, the anti missile defense system developed by Israel and the US to counter the constant rocket fire from the Gaza strip. Against all odds Chanoch and his team at Raphael were able to achieve the unimaginable. The story of Iron Dome is being told through a new documentary series featuring Chanoch Levin and other top Israeli brass responsible for making this miraculous missile defense system come to life. The new 3-part documentary series is now available to stream, worldwide outside of Israel, exclusively on IZZY. Visit https://helloisrael.tv/2njb/ Today, we’re extremely honored to be joined by Chanoch Levin to talk about the Iron Dome defense system. *** Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $10 — that’s 67% off: forward.com/2njb *** Photo credit: Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho http://www.ngphoto.biz CC-BY-SA 4.0