U.S. House approves $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system
Washington (QNN)- The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Thursday a stand-alone bill to provide $1 billion to ‘Israel’ to replenish its Iron Dome missile-defense system, just two days after the funding was removed from a final House-passed bill to prevent a government shutdown.
The measure passed 420 members voting in favour of the bill, and nine against.
The bill is now headed to the Senate, which will need to approve it as well.
Some of the most liberal House Democrats had objected to the provision and said they would vote against the broad spending bill if it was included.
Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Pramila Jayapal were among those who threatened to vote against the bill if the Iron Dome funding was included.
That threatened the bill’s passage, with Democrats only narrowly controlling the House, because Republicans have opposed the plan to fund the federal government through Dec. 3 and raise the nation’s borrowing limit.
In response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision to provide the $1 billion to ‘Israel’, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett thanked “all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic and Republican alike, for their sweeping support for Israel and the commitment to its security.”
Bennett added that “those who try to challenge this support got a resounding response today,” apparently referring to the Progressive Democrats who had removed on Tuesday the extra $1 billion.
Following the removal, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that he would bring a suspension bill, which requires support from two-third of members, to approve the provision with support of members from both parties.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced the bill on the House floor today.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian Progressive Democrat and was born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrant parents, called the Israeli occupation government an “apartheid regime,” and announced she would oppose the bill.
“I will not support an effort to enable and support war crimes, human rights abuses and violence. We cannot be talking only about Israelis’ need for safety at a time when Palestinians are living under a violent apartheid system,” she said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar expressed her disapproval of the funding tweeting on Thursday, “Given the human rights violations in Gaza, Sheikh Jarrah, and ever-growing settlement expansion, we should not be ramming through a last-minute $1 billion increase in military funding for Israel without any accountability.”
As of November 2020, the United States had provided $1.6 billion to ‘Israel’ for Iron Dome batteries, interceptors, co-production costs and general maintenance, according to Congressional Research Service.
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