Iron Dome

The successful testing of the Iron Dome anti-rocket, anti-missile system by Israel will be a major factor against the strategic Iranian policy of surrounding Israel with hostile rocket/missile firing regimes in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as Iran itself. If Israel can blow the Kassam rockets and Grad and Katyusha missiles out of the sky, then not only will the lives of the local Israeli civilian population be saved, but also the effectiveness of these military systems will be compromised.
Iron Dome is the first working anti-missile sytem in the world that can intercept short and medium range rockets and missiles. One of its great features is that the computer control has enough time to calculate where the missile will land from its trajectory (much like the Hawk-eye system used in tennis to check whether a ball is "in" or "out") and consequently to decide whether or not to deploy. If the target is in a field and no damage will be caused and no lives are in danger, then the anti-missile will not be launched. This is a smart feature, since it will save a lot of money, and most rockets so far have landed uselessly.
However, there are still some difficult questions to be asked. First, the cost of a Kassam rocket is a few hundred dollars, while a single Iron Dome missile is worth thousands of dollars. Second, if the enemy fires multiple rockets or missiles at the same time, can the Iron Dome handle them all? Only actual operation in practice will answer the last question. Finally, given the cost (ca. $50,000) of each Iron Dome battery, how many can the IDF actually afford to deploy.
Nevertheless, the Iron Dome system constitutes a turning point in the road, a technological solution to a primitive war-like threat. Once they are deployed, first around Gaza and then around the Lebanese border, and once they prove their effectiveness, then Iran and its proxies will have to decide whether or not they can afford to continue to amass so much military junk.