Washington. September 23. INTERFAX-The House of Representatives of the US Congress on Thursday approved a separate bill to provide $1 billion in aid to Israel for the purchase of missiles necessary for the Iron Dome missile defense system, The Hill reports.
According to the publication, 420 congressmen supported the bill, nine opposed it.
"As we continue to advocate for a peaceful settlement based on the principle of" two States for two peoples", for the sake of security, hope and opportunities for both Israelis and Palestinians, we actively, resolutely, without hesitation advocate for Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, " said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
However, some members of the Chamber opposed the financing of the "Iron Dome". Thus, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, who was born into a family of Palestinian immigrants, said that the United States cannot " talk only about the need for the security of Israelis while the Palestinians live under a strict apartheid system."
"We should also talk about the need for security for the Palestinians from Israeli attacks," the newspaper quotes Tlaib as saying.
According to The Hill, earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and assured him that lawmakers would consider funding the Iron Dome, despite its exclusion from the government spending bill in order to avoid a "shutdown" (stopping funding for federal agencies).
At the end of August, US President Joe Biden, at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said that he agreed to help supply Israel with missiles for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
"I fully support the supply (of missiles) for the Iron Dome," Biden said at the time in a conversation with Bennett in the Oval Office.
In May, there was a sharp escalation of the situation in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian groups from the Gaza Strip came into force on the night of May 21. Before that, for 11 days, the Israel Defense Forces attacked Gaza in response to rocket launches from there: in total, more than 4 thousand rockets were fired at Israel. Most of the rockets from the Gaza Strip were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system, some of them hit the desert areas of Israel.
