An anti-missile system that may provide an effective response to Palestinian Authority rocket attacks from Gaza is apparently under consideration by the IDF. Two reports on the system on Voice of Israel government radio 
Keinan described an internal IDF budget dispute.
presented conflicting reports on the system's capabilities and the reason it is not yet deployed in the Negev.
As noted by the Independent Media Review & Analysis (IMRA) organization, an evening edition report by Voice of Israel's correspondent Nissim Keinan described an internal IDF budget dispute preventing the operation of a cutting edge rocket defense system.
According to Keinan, the field-tested system "includes sophisticated radar and a rocket launching system that can identify any suspicious movement by terrorists and destroy them within seconds from the sky...." However, the unnamed Israeli-developed system has yet to be deployed due to "a dispute over the minuscule sum of an eight to ten million shekel annual fee," said Keinan.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director of IMRA, observed, "Keinan's report is somewhat vague in that it cites two different costs: 8-10 million shekel annual operating cost and 16.9 million shekel for rockets. In any case, the total cost involved is only a fraction of what is being poured into reinforcing buildings in the Gaza envelope."
Within half a day, during a midnight Voice of Israel report, the IDF Spokesman's Office identified the system in question as the Halo observation system used by the Field Intelligence Corps. The balloon-based camera system, the IDF said, "is used for surveillance and the collection of information and not for firing rockets. Its use has been studied for a number of years and these days the IDF is carrying out professional deliberations concerning the desirability of the system and its abilities as compared to alternatives."
Officially, the Halo system enables rapid identification of rocket-firing cells and facilitates their targeting by conventional means. It has been deployed successfully against Gaza-based terrorists, according to the IDF.
Dr. Lerner notes that the IDF's official statement leaves the nature of the system Keinan described in his earlier report, which appears to include attack capabilities, open to speculation. Also unclear is the reason for the dispute over the system, as Keinan noted, if the system is indeed the Halo, which is already in use by the army.