The Israeli government will be making a request to the United States for $1 billion in aid to replenish the Iron Dome air defense system used to intercept rockets fired at the country, Senator Lindsey Graham said during an interview on Tuesday.
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“There is going to be a request made tomorrow I think, or Thursday, by the Israelis to the Pentagon for a billion dollars in aid to replenish the Iron Dome batteries that were used to protect Israel,” Graham told Fox News.
Graham conducted the interview from Israel, where he had recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Iron Dome system, which intercepted thousand of rockets fired during the most recent 11-day escalation in the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces, is funded and produced, in large part, by the US government and contractors.
The news comes following affirmations from both President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week that the US would be replenishing the system as part of their commitment to Israel’s right to self-defense.
The Iron Dome played a crucial role in the recent tensions with Hamas. Designed for Counter-Rockets, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) missions, the Iron Dome reportedly blocked thousands of hostile rockets fired by Hamas.
Israel had been hit by what is called the largest barrage of rockets by the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas. According to the IDF, the ‘Iron Dome’ intercepted more than 90% of the rockets fired by Hamas.
