The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a new $ 1 billion package on Thursday to fund Israel’s missile defense.Iron dome», After a controversy sparked earlier this week by his sudden withdrawal from another vote.
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The text was approved by 420 votes to nine (eight Democrats and one Republican), while two Democratic parliamentarians present abstained. It must then be submitted to the final vote of the Senate, on a date which has not yet been fixed. The United States has participated regularly for ten years in the financing of this anti-missile system.
By the end of 2020, Congress had approved $ 1.6 billion in spending on maintenance and components of the “Iron dome», Through votes each time widely supported in the Democratic and Republican camps. But on Tuesday, that new billion dollar envelope was suddenly taken out of a budget bill in the House. According to American media, this decision was taken under pressure from certain elected officials in the left wing of the Democrats, who threatened to vote against the finance law if it contained this measure.
Party leaders, who have a very fragile majority, immediately said the funds would be approved quickly through another channel. “The adoption of this text reflects the great union of Congress, between the two parties and the two chambers, around the security of Israel.», Affirmed the Democratic president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi in the hemicycle. “Helping Israel is vital, because Israel’s security is essential for America’s security.» «The Iron Dome is a purely defensive systemShe insisted, as if to respond to criticism from Democrats who are opposed to its funding.
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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett thanked the House after the vote for “his immense support for Israel and his commitment to its security». «Anyone who tries to challenge this support has received a definitive response today.“, He continued in a statement.
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