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US House passes $500 million in missile-defense assistance for Israel

Additionally, the spending package included $47.5 million in U.S.-Israel anti-tunnel technology cooperation, $4 million for new U.S.-Israel collaboration on coronavirus research and $6 million for joint U.S.-Israel cooperative programs in energy and water.

Congress Capitol Hill Washington DC
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending package on Friday that includes the continuation of $500 million in American missile-defense assistance to Israel.

It appropriates funding toward the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile defense systems.

Another $3.3 billion was allocated in a separate appropriations bill that passed the House last week.

All of the funds allocated are in accordance with the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between the United States and Israel worth $38 billion over a decade.

Additionally, the spending package included $47.5 million in U.S.-Israel anti-tunnel technology cooperation, $4 million for new U.S.-Israel collaboration on coronavirus research and $6 million for joint U.S.-Israel cooperative programs in energy and water.

The $1.3 trillion appropriations bill, which includes funding for other U.S. departments, now heads to the U.S. Senate, which is not expected to take up the House version due to disagreements between the two bills.

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