PM Ehud Olmert and defense chiefs inspect long-range missile Arrow interceptor unit Tuesday

Olmert, deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi and air force chief Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedi, who also commands the Iranian war sector, were briefed Tuesday, Oct. 16, on the preparedness of Arrow missile defense batteries for a possible war contingency. debkafile‘s military sources report the unit recently acquired a third Arrow battery and so completed its deployment for a potential simultaneous attack from the east by Iran and the north by Syria.
The prime minister was told how the Israeli anti-missile batteries are designed to synchronize with their American counterparts.
Defense minister Ehud Barak was due to meet US defense secretary Robert Gates and Pentagon chiefs in Washington later Tuesday to discuss the missile threat. Monday, Gates said he did not rule out a possible military option against Iran.
Our military sources note a number of steps that point to US and Israeli military and intelligence bracing for the initial stages of a potential conflict with Iran and Syria, should one erupt, focusing on their missiles striking civilian homeland targets and military infrastructure, such as command centers, missile bases and air force installations.
Intensive preparations have been afoot for some weeks, debkafile‘s sources report, to set up large public shelters in the northern Israeli towns of Haifa, Nahariya, Acre, Carmiel and Safed. Homeland Front officers and civil engineers have been inspecting the sites of underground facilities of parking areas, shopping malls, factories and high-rise buildings and directing their conversion into bomb shelters able to accommodate thousands of civilians in the event of a missile assault.
These activities will soon be extended to all parts of Israel. The last time the country saw such preparations was 40 years ago, prior to the Six Day War.