The US Congress approved $225m in emergency funding for Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system late on Friday, sending the measure to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
The House of Representatives approved the funding by a 395-8 vote on Friday, several hours after the Senate passed it unanimously.
The money would be used to replenish Israel’s arsenal of Iron Dome interceptor missiles, many of which have been used to shoot down short-range rockets fired from Gaza into populated areas of Israel in the current three-week-long conflict.
An earlier version of the funding plan had failed on Thursday when Senate Republicans blocked a broader spending bill that was largely intended to provide money to handle the current immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border. But lawmakers in both chambers subsequently reached agreements to pass the missile funding measure separately.
Because it is being treated as emergency spending, the $225m can simply be added to the US deficit. It does not need to be offset by other savings under congressional budget rules.
Israel’s Iron Dome missile interceptor system, which was partly funded by the United States, has shot down most of the rockets fired at its cities by militants in Gaza, providing much greater protection for Israelis than during past conflicts.
