CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - Israeli defense officials said the installation of anti-missile shields on IDF tanks has been postponed due to budgetary constraints.

In the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, Hezbollah fired dozens of anti-tank missiles on Israeli tanks operating inside Lebanon, damaging 40 of them and killing 30 crew members.

Following the war, the IDF reported that installing anti-missile shields on tanks and armored personnel carriers would be one of the military's top priorities, with an estimated target date set for the end of 2008

According to a report by Jerusalem Post correspondent Yaakov Katz, installation of the anti-missile Trophy system on Merkava Mk4 tanks will be postponed until 2010.

In the two years since the war, Iran and Syria have supplied Hezbollah with Soviet-manufactured Sagger, Cornet and Fagot anti-tank missiles, as well as the French-built MILAN and U.S.-built TOW, all of which can be fired by a two- or three-man team.

Source: The Jerusalem Post