The unleashing of the new defense system – named after the King David in the Bible, who fought and killed the giant Philistine, Goliath – comes just days after Israel’s neighbor to the east, Syria, launched a missile at an Israeli aircraft.

Covering all bases

David’s Sling is designed to protect Israel’s citizens from aerial assaults that its other two defense systems are not specifically calibrated to handle with such precision.

“David’s Sling takes its place between the Arrow 3 missile batteries and the Iron Dome – designed to intercept short-range rockets, such as those launched from the Gaza Strip,” CBN News reports. “David’s Sling can take out rockets, aircraft and cruise missiles with ranges between 65 and 125 miles.”

The effectiveness of Israel’s pre-existing Arrow 3 missile defense system was proven just a few days before the launch of David’s Sling, as Syria’s surface-to-air missile (SAM) carrying a 200-pound explosive payload was successfully intercepted by the long-range battery.

Don’t mess with Israel …

In the wake of Syria’s unsuccessful attack, Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman issued Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a strong warning on Sunday.

“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our airplanes, we will destroy all of them without thinking twice,” Lieberman vowed with conviction.

It is maintained that the Jewish State has been careful not to intervene in the ongoing civil war taking place in Syria, as Israel has repeatedly stressed that its only business of flying over Syrian airspace is to keep the Islamic Republic – which has persistently pledged to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth – from supplying the region’s Islamic terrorist organization with munitions.

“Israel has never involved itself in Syria’s civil war,” noted CBN News’ Tzippe Barrow, who is stationed in the Christian news agency’s Jerusalem Bureau. “[I]ts mission has been to prevent Iranian weapons convoys traveling through Syria from reaching the Hezbollah terror group.”

Former director of Israel’s Counterterrorism Bureau, Brig. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel, assured that Syria is no match for Israel’s air strength.

“They can again open fire against the Israeli Air Force, but as our minister of defense already said yesterday … in that case, we will destroy with the [anti-missile] batteries that are threatening our aircraft,” Nuriel insisted when addressing the press on Monday. “So, generally speaking, the Syrian capabilities to respond are very, very limited.”

The counterterrorism expert maintained that Israel has absolutely no interest in intervening in Syria’s civil war. However, he assured the media that the Jewish State will not hesitate to take any action in order to ensure the safety of its citizens.

“Let’s say that Israel has zero influence on those five civil wars in Syria,” Nuriel continued. “We are mostly respond[ing] and take[ing] those security measures we need to protect ourselves.”

He then assured that Israel’s commitment to national security does not only apply to Syria, Iraq, the Palestinians and other possible threats.

“[Russia has received] all the messages they needed in order to understand that we will not let anyone – including Russia – steal or disturb or stop us from implementing our military mission,” Nuriel asserted.

Keeping Israel safe

Israel’s latest installment in its missile defense program is geared to guarantee its continued existence and respect as a major power in the Middle East.

“With the addition of David’s Sling – working alongside the Arrow 3 and Iron Dome – Israel is capable of protecting its population from rocket and missile attacks with potentially deadly payloads,” Barrow maintained.

In an effort to make sure Israel can continue to protect itself from every outside threat, the United States helped its biggest and longtime ally in the Middle East produce its state-of-the-art missile defense system.

“Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. – working in tandem with the U.S. Raytheon Co. – developed David’s Sling,” Barrow informed. “The U.S. Congress has contributed significantly to Israel’s three-tiered anti-missile defense systems.”