Developers of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system, who on Monday were awarded the Israel Defense Prize for 2012, have donated the prize money to a trauma rehabilitation center in Israel’s south. The prize, worth thousands of shekels, was given to the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council's Resilience Center, which provides therapy for trauma victims, including those suffering from the constant rockets fired into the south from the Gaza Strip.

"We owe this prize to residents of the south," the head of Rafael’s Air-to-Air and Air Defense Directorate, Yossi Druker, said at Wednesday’s ceremony marking the donation. The ceremony was also attended by Shaar Hanegev council head Alon Shuster.

President Shimon Peres awarded the Israel Defense Prize for 2012 to the developers of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system on Monday. The engineers are employees of the Defense Ministry's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Mafat), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., mPrest Systems (which manufactures the Battle Management Control system), and the air force anti-aircraft unit that has been operating the Iron Dome batteries since April 2011.

Meanwhile, an Iron Dome battery has been redeployed in the central Dan region after having been moved to the north of Israel for some months. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said, "The Iron Dome system is undergoing an operational deployment process. From time to time the system is moved to different areas in the country."