JERUSALEM - The Israeli air forces has for the first time deployed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system outside Beer Sheva, Israel's largest city in the southern Negev desert.

The decision came after the recent escalation along the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Following the decision to deploy the system, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that "the system can fire back if fired at but it's important to remember that the Dome is still not full proof."

Analysts told Xinhua on Monday that while Iron Dome is an impressive system, it still needs testing and it won't offer a complete protection. However, it is expected to, in combination with offensive capabilities, be able to convince the Palestinian groups to halt their rocket fire.

In the opinion of Prof. Zaki Shalom, a senior researcher at Ben- Gurion University, the Israeli government must have had considered several important factors before deploying the Iron Dome system.

"The government has been afraid of high expectations rising from a system that might not work as people expect it to," Shalom told Xinhua, adding that "it's not operative in a way that it can give 100 percent certainty that all the missiles launched to Israel will be neutralized in the air."

There is also the financial concern, as the system fires projectile, costing tens of thousands of US dollars, to intercept a rocket of a hundred dollars, according to Shalom.

One of the advantages of the Iron Dome system is that it is not only able to intercept an incoming missile but calculate whether the missile will hit a populated area or open land before deciding to fire upon the target.

Dr. Emanuel Sakal, a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, told Xinhua that the Iron Dome is still undergoing test. "It's not a miracle solution," Sakal said. "It's a very important system that is part of the ' LEGO' which Israel built" against Gaza militants' attacks.

The system is in an operationally experimental phase, and every system or device has to be checked in the field before it can be declared operational, which is exactly what is happening now, Sakal added.

The decision to develop the Iron Dome was taken in 2007 as a counter-measure for thousands of short-range rockets fired from Lebanon in the 2006 Lebanon war. So far, the estimated cost of development has been 200 million dollars, according to local reports.

"Expectation should be moderate because it has not finished checking and correcting," Sakal said, adding that "it will be part of the system as one very important component in the whole defense system."

DEFENSE AND DETERRENCE

Shalom noted that the Israeli government also needs to consider what kind of message the Iron Dome's deployment was sending to the Gaza groups.

Former Israeli Defense Minister and Kadima parliamentarian Shaul Mofaz has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the rocket threats.

"The government's policy is wrong and it is eating away at both Israel's deterrence and the security forces' ability to attack," local daily Haaretz quoted Mofaz as saying in a visit to the south on Sunday.

The recent escalation has been the most serious since Israel launched operation Cast Lead in December 2008. While the operation drew condemnation from the international community over the allegations on excessive forces and the use of phosphor in populated areas, it was considered in Israel a success as the number of rockets fired at Israel fell drastically after the military offensive against the Palestinian enclave.

When the recent rounds of rocket attacks and Israel's retaliatory bombings started, local defense experts quickly pointed out that neither Israel nor Hamas was interested in an escalation. However, according to an interview in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot, some Israeli army officers are concerned over Israel's handling of the situation.

One unnamed officer was quoted as saying that "after Operation Cast Lead, a very clear equation was created whereby the Israel Defense Forces responds disproportionately to any violation of the state's calm. This was the way the message was conveyed to the other side."

Commenting on the offensive operations as a means for Israel to maintain its deterrence, Shalom from Ben-Gurion University noted that "Israel has made it clear to the other side, the price they are going to pay for continuing rocket attacks is to be very high. "

"They understood not worthwhile for them to do it right now," he said.