The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly today in favor of legislation to provide Israel $1 billion to modernize its Iron Dome missile defense system, just two days after withdrawing that support from another bill related to funding the federal government as a whole.
The House of Representatives supported the legislation by 420 votes to 9 against.
Minutes after the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that the parliament's approval of Iron Dome funding was a "resonant response" to those skeptical of Washington's support for Tel Aviv, and that funding would be allocated to renew Israel's stockpile of Iron Dome missiles.
On Tuesday, members of the Democratic Party - affiliated with the liberal movement - had objected to the vote on an item to finance the Iron Dome within the general budget of the federal government, and these lawmakers refused to link, in a single law, between Iron Dome and the financing of their government.
As soon as this funding was withdrawn from the federal government funding bill, Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives - in which they represent the majority - rushed to confirm that Iron Dome would be funded, but in the annual budget bill of the US Department of Defense (Pentagon), stressing that it would not be There is no "interruption" in this financing.
While the leader of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives took the initiative to "reassure Israel" that a vote of support would be taken... Israel's Iron Dome provokes disagreement among Democrats in Congress pic.twitter.com/0SUIEWafXE
- Al Jazeera (@AJArabic) September 22, 2021
Republican rage
The objection of some Democratic Representatives to supporting Iron Dome funding - as part of the federal government funding project - angered the Republican minority, whose leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, hastened to accuse his Democratic opponents of "acquiescing to the influence of their radical anti-Semitic representatives," while some Democrats expressed their regret for the move. upon their colleagues.
There is a well-established tradition in the US Congress of strong bipartisan support for Israel, to which Washington allocates billions of dollars in military aid annually.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has previously pledged - on more than one occasion - to supply the Iron Dome with ammunition.
Last year, Washington gave Israel financial aid amounting to $3.8 billion in a long-term annual commitment, as part of an agreement signed by former US President Barack Obama in 2016, which gives Tel Aviv an aid package of $38 billion over 10 years, all for military purposes.
Tel Aviv obtains from Washington the Tamir interceptor missiles used in the Iron Dome system, and the price of one missile is 50 thousand dollars.