Picture taken on Jan. 24, 2019 shows a view of a battery of Israel's Iron Dome defense system near Tel Aviv, Israel. (Xinhua/Gideon Markowicz-JINI)

JERUSALEM, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. army has decided to purchase Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, citing "an immediate need," the Israeli Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

According to a ministry statement, the number of the short-range missile defense systems to be bought by the United States is unspecified.

The procurement would be part of an agreement between the Israeli Defense Ministry and the U.S. Defense Department.

In the long run, the U.S. army would use the Israeli air defense system "as part of a range of possible military responses to air threats," the Israeli ministry said.

Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the move as "a great achievement for Israel."

The purchase "once again marks the deepening of our steadfast alliance with the U.S. and an expression of Israel's rising status in the world," he said.

"Our systems know how to deal with any threat, both in defense and in an attack. I would not recommend our enemies try us," Netanyahu warned.

Meanwhile, Patrick Seiber, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Futures Command, confirmed that the Israeli Iron Dome will be assessed and experimented as a system to protect the U.S. forces deployed overseas.

The deal marks the first time Israel would export the Iron Dome system.

Israel has nine Iron Dome batteries, most of which are deployed across the south near the border with the Gaza Strip, where they have intercepted occasional rocket fire from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The Iron Dome systems were employed in two major Israeli military operations in Gaza respectively in 2012 and 2014, allowing the forces to carry out massive airstrikes while minimizing the impact of the Palestinian responses on Israeli civilians.