U.S. Senate Democrats included $225 million for Israel's Iron Dome rocket interception system in an emergency funding bill on Tuesday, which, as Bloomberg reports [4], in addition to the $351 million that’s already under discussion for Iron Dome in fiscal 2015 would bring the potential new funding to $576 million, compared with the $176 million currently requested by the Pentagon. "Iron Dome has saved countless Israeli lives," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a letter dated yesterday and while the Iron Dome system is built by Haifa-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, an agreement with Israel calls for more than half the funds the Pentagon provides for Iron Dome to be spent in the U.S..
U.S. Senate Democrats included $225 million for Israel's Iron Dome rocket interception system in an emergency funding bill on Tuesday that also cut $1 billion from President Barack Obama's request for $3.7 billion to deal with thousands of undocumented child immigrants.
"Israel is an essential American ally and needs these assets to defend itself," said Maryland Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a statement.
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U.S. lawmakers tend to be heavily pro-Israel. However, the fate of the $225 million - and other funding in the legislation - is uncertain in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, where there is stiff opposition to an increase in spending tied to the Democratic president's request.
This almost triples the aid for Israel (as Bloomberg reports), [4]
The money -- which would be included in an emergency spending bill directed mostly at child-migration issues on the U.S.-Mexico border -- would be in addition to the $351 million that’s already under discussion for Iron Dome in fiscal 2015. It would bring the potential new funding to $576 million, compared with the $176 million requested by the Pentagon for the year that begins Oct. 1.
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The added $225 million for the current fiscal year would be used “to accelerate production of Iron Dome components in Israel to maintain adequate stockpiles,” Hagel said in the letter.
“Iron Dome has saved countless Israeli lives,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a letter dated yesterday
An agreement with Israel calls for more than half the funds the Pentagon provides for Iron Dome to be spent in the U.S.
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We can almost hear the teleprompter now that Republicans (should they block this spending) would have the blood of dead Israeli children on their hands...
