"I don’t want to create the illusion that Iron Dome, which we are setting up for the first time today, will prove a full or comprehensive answer"

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to lower expectations about the Iron Dome system Sunday, telling the cabinet that the system could not protect every house, school and army base in the occupation entity.

"Israel has been under the threat of missile attack for 20 years, since the first Gulf War.  I don't want to create the illusion that Iron Dome, which we are setting up for the first time today, will prove a full or comprehensive answer," he said.

Netanyahu said that the Iron Dome system was still in its experimental stages. The true answer to the missile attacks he said was a combination of “deterrence, preventive measures and the resilience of the government and the people.”

In any event, Netanyahu said, Israel holds Hamas as responsible for anything that is fired from the Gaza Strip.

Brig-Gen Doron Gavish, commander of the IAF Air Defense Division echoed the prime ministers sentiments, saying "the iron dome can provide good but not hermetic protection," as soldiers began deploying the first battery of the system outside of Beersheba.
Gavish said that the deployment of the Iron Dome was part of the Israeli occupation forces’ wider strategy of using offensive as well as passive defensive means to combat Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. He said that despite the Iron Dome deployment, the public must continue to listen to the Home Front Command's instructions regarding what to do in the event of a missile attack.

There had been some hesitancy in the Israeli defense establishment about the deployment of the Iron Dome outside of Israeli cities.

The Israeli military stressed that the deployment was part of what it called an “operational test” and that the Air Defense Division was prepared for the possibility that the Iron Dome will not work as expected.