$ 1 billion in funding to replenish the Iron Dome system's interceptor is delayed by congress
Posted on Sep 22, 2021 by Ifi Reporter
$ 1 billion in funding to replenish the Iron Dome system's interceptor stock was removed tonight (Tuesday) from the budget law in question in the U.S. House of Representatives - following an internal dispute in the Democratic Party that controls Congress. The clause allowing the interceptors to be funded was removed under pressure from members of the party's progressive wing.
Despite the delay, Israel is expected to eventually receive the funding it was promised. An Israeli political source clarified that the functioning of the Iron Dome system is not expected to be impaired until funding is received, and it is estimated that the money will be transferred within a few weeks. Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern said after the removal of the clause that the Democratic leadership is committed to passing it as part of the defense budget, as has been done in previous years, in a way that has not provoked opposition in the party's progressive wing.
The significance of the decision to remove the clause has more to do with the Democratic Party's conception of Israel than with the financing of the Iron Dome itself. Sources in detail told Haaretz that the decision to remove it was made after legislators - including Alexandria Oxio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, Iana Presley and Permila Giafal - threatened to vote against the budget law unless the section was removed. If that had happened, given the meager Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, it would have led to the September 30 paralysis of the administration.
The State Department said Minister Yair Lapid spoke with Stanley Hoyer, the majority leader in the House of Representatives, and the conversation revealed that "this is a technical rejection resulting from the congressional debate over the US budget deficit ceiling." It was further reported that Hoyer reiterated his commitment that the aid budget for the Iron Dome would be transferred soon.
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