Warsaw - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak praised new US plans for a missile shield as a more flexible and effective way to deal with a missile threat from Iran after a meeting Wednesday with his Polish counterpart, Bogdan Klich.

"We listened very carefully to the American argumentation for changing their policy, and I came out convinced that it's really a professional (system)," Barak told journalists in Warsaw.

"A new approach provides more flexibility and will be in the short time a much more effective investment (to deal with) the challenge of missiles from Iran."

Barak was to later meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. He was also to visit the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in southern Poland.

US President Barack Obama announced in September that the US would drop plans to base a long-range missile-defence system in Eastern Europe. Washington now plans to deploy less-complicated systems to counter Iran's ballistic missile program.

The Israeli defence minister was in Prague Tuesday for meetings with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and Defence Minister Martin Bartak, said Israel's defence ministry.

Barak's meetings in Warsaw and Prague were to focus on several issues, including Israel's defence, strategic relations, the threat from Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Goldstone report, which found evidence that Israel committed war crimes during its offensive in the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year. (dpa)