Israeli defense minister lauds successful missile test launch

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak late Wednesday praised the country's defense industries for the successful completion of a trial that is believed to involve a new surface-to-surface intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), further raising conjecture that Israel is gearing for a potential strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Residents of Tel Aviv and cities in southern Israel witnessed earlier in the day an arcing plume of white smoke that crossed the sky. The Defense Ministry rushed to issue a statement clarifying that the military had test-fired a rocket propulsion system from the Palmachim Air Base north of Tel Aviv. "This had been planned by the security establishment a long time ago and was carried out as scheduled," according to the statement. While the ministry declined to provide further details, media reports speculated that the projectile may had been a Jericho 3, a locally-developed ICBM said to be capable of carrying unconventional warheads, or perhaps Arrow 3, a missile still in the development phase that the Israel Air Force slates for intercepting ICBMs high in the stratosphere. Barak's office followed up with another statement saying that the trial was "an impressive technological achievement and an important step in Israel's progress in the area of space and missiles, which had been planned long in advance." The statement said that the trial "once again proves that the country's engineers, technicians and defense industries are at the highest level." Barak was due to depart to Britain later Wednesday, where he is scheduled to meet his newly-appointed counterpart, Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary William Hague and top defense and intelligence officials. The missile trial came as local media was abuzz with conflicting reports of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, which Israel claims are slated to produce an atomic bomb that will threaten its existence. Yedioth Aharonot, the country's largest-circulating daily, reported earlier this week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak were attempting to secure a majority in the security cabinet for such an attack, sparking the ire of senior government officials who accused the media of causing "tremendous damage." "There has never been a breakdown of responsibility and a campaign of recklessness like there is today," minister-without- portfolio Benny Begin told Army radio on Tuesday.