Czech defense minister: Radar deal will help Israel

A new missile-defense system that will be deployed in the Czech Republic will also contribute to Israel's defense, the Czech defense minister suggested Sunday in an interview with Haaretz.

"If there is an effective missile defense, it will diminish the threat posed by Iran on Israel," said Vlasta Parkanova, who is on a visit here.

The Czech defense minister will meet with her counterpart Ehud Barak Monday, and discuss greater defense cooperation between the two countries, and possible procurement of Israeli-made defense systems. Parkanova refused to specify what systems her country was interested in or the scale of the deals in question, but she stressed Sunday that "we are aware that Israel has very advanced technologies."

Parkanova also told Haaretz that she and her colleagues support the deployment of a missile-defense system on Czech soil, as proposed by the United States, much to Moscow's chagrin, even though there is no official decision on the matter yet by the Czech government or parliament. Haaretz