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Just as Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, envisioned when he established what was to become the defense technology group Rafael, the company's innovations are protecting the country in real-time amid its ongoing conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah forces.
While Rafael's contributions to Israel’s defense are critical, CEO Yoav Tourgeman, who took office in December, emphasizes the importance of future-focused research and development. “Even though there is an emergency need today, we are not wavering in our efforts to keep researching and developing technology for future needs,” he told AIN at the Farnborough Airshow. “The idea is to always keep a survival edge through scientific superiority.”
Rafael’s Iron Dome air and missile defense system has proven effective. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired about 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, resulting in 57 fatalities. In the first week of the current conflict, around the same number of rockets were launched toward Israel before Iron Dome was fully deployed, causing five fatalities. “Since then there have been around 16,000 rockets and just three fatalities, and Iron Dome has meant that life can go on there,” Tourgeman said.
