March 27 marked the tenth anniversary of the day that Israel’s storied anti-missile system was declared operational; Wednesday will mark ten years since it first successfully intercepted one of Hamas’s missiles. Matan Tzuri recalls the latter event, and takes stock:

The all-too-familiar screeching whistle of the rocket siren was heard in Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Sderot. But this time, instead of people fleeing to their reinforced rooms in a panicked wave, [they] excitedly stepped onto their balconies to watch the light show that was the Iron Dome in action. People clapped and cheered at the sight of the system’s first successful interception. Pride swelled in the chests of Israelis who knew that reality in the country would forever be changed.

Despite the . . . euphoria, many around Israel believed that this multimillion-dollar system—whose missiles are priced at tens of thousands of shekels apiece—was nothing less than an overkill response to the ramshackle rockets cobbled together in Gaza’s dilapidated scrapyards. That notion was a mistake. The Iron Dome is one of the best things to happen to the communities adjacent the Gaza Strip in particular and the south [of Israel] as a whole. The fighters operating the system are seen as nothing less than family in every household in southern Israel.

The very deployment of the system both changed life in the south and signaled that Israel’s leaders finally understood the country’s home front had to be protected by any means. It served as a stepping stone for the deployment of additional protective [devices] in the south, such as the new and technologically advanced fence along the Gaza Strip border.

How did Qatar, an American ally, become the nerve center of the leading Palestinian jihadist organization? Natalie Ecanow explains.

When Jordan expelled Hamas in 1999, Qatar offered sanctuary to the group, which had already become notorious for using suicide-bombing attacks over the previous decade. . . . Hamas chose to relocate to Syria. However, that arrangement lasted for only a decade. With the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the terror group found its way back to Qatar.

In 2003, Hamas leaders reportedly convened in Qatar after the IDF attempted to eliminate Hamas’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, following a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed seven people, including two American citizens. This episode led to one of the first efforts by Qatar to advocate for its terror proxy.

Thirteen years and five wars between Hamas and Israel later, Qatar’s support for Hamas has not waned. . . . To this day, Qatari officials maintain that the office came at the “request from Washington to establish indirect lines of communication with Hamas.” However, an Obama White House official asserted that there was never any request from Washington. . . . Inexplicably, the United States government continues to rely on Qatar to negotiate for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, even as the regime hosts the terror group’s political elite.

A reckoning is needed between our two countries. Congressional hearings, legislation, executive orders, and other measures to regulate relations between our countries are long overdue.