US lawmakers eye extra cash for Israeli missile defense

Peter Roskam and Grace Meng request $41.4 million for Iron Dome, $286.9 million for David’s Sling and $146 million for the Arrow

By JTA 25 March 2015, 11:23 pm

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Israeli soldiers patrol near an Iron Dome defense system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, in the Golan Heights, on January 20, 2015. (AFP/Jack Guez)

Two House members have requested additional funding for joint United States and Israel missile defense systems.

Reps. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, and Rep. Grace Meng (D- N.Y.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, requested $41.4 million for the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, $286.9 million for the David’s Sling weapons system and $146 million for the Arrow weapons system.

“These programs are essential to the safety and security of our ally Israel,” Roskam and Meng wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

“Our requested funding levels for the upcoming year seek to address the evolving threats posed by Israeli adversaries, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran – all of which are developing more advanced, short-, medium- and long-range rocket and missile capabilities.”