US President Joe Biden’s proposed $14 billion aid package to Israel includes funds to assemble up to 100 more Iron Dome launchers, significantly expanding the IDF’s air defense, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
As per the report, citing unidentified US officials, the package would also include funds for some 14,000 interceptors, giving Israel the ability to operate “conservatively, 25 new batteries” across Israel, Wes Rumbaugh, a missile defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg.
However, Rumbaugh stated that it is likely new launchers and interceptors built using US funding would replace dated equipment still in operation in Israel.
Bloomberg’s report comes as Israel has been facing a heavy rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, with Hamas and Hezbollah taking responsibility for attacks carried out since the former’s mass infiltration and massacre of 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
Israel has also faced attacks from Syria and the Houthis rebels in Yemen, including shooting down a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis which was reportedly intercepted, for the first time, outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Republicans cause issues in US House, Senate
Biden sought for the US Congress and House of Representatives to approve a $106 billion military aid package for both Israel and Ukraine last month, saying that “Israeli and Ukrainian victories on the battlefield are essential to protect America’s national security.”
But Republicans who lead the House of Representatives, object to combining the two issues, joined by some party members in the Senate.
Opinion polls show public support for Ukraine aid declining and many Republicans, particularly those most closely aligned with former president Donald Trump, have come out against it.
Last month, following the launch of Operation Swords of Iron, the Pentagon announced plans to send the two Iron Dome missile defense systems it had previously purchased from Israel back to Jerusalem.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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