Israeli Anti-Missile System Faces Fire at Home and Delays in U.S. Funding

[Purveyor]

It has been promoted as a cutting-edge technological marvel and marketed as the ultimate solution to the misery Israeli civilians experienced facing rocket attacks from Gaza militants.

But as the Iron Dome rocket defense system moves into its final stages of development, Israelis are questioning its effectiveness, and American lawmakers are seeking assurances that the system they are poised to fund will indeed be used to protect citizens in the battered Negev city of Sderot, close by Gaza, and not just to defend military bases.

Some in Israel fear that a system originally promised as a protective shield for civilians is being shifted instead to protect strategic military assets. And this has, in turn, prompted some questions from members of Congress who have been crucial to obtaining U.S. funding for the project.

New Jersey Democrat Steve Rothman, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations’ subcommittee on Defense, told the Forward that an Israeli shift away from deploying the system to primarily protect civilians could lead Congress to review its expected $205 million funding decision.

In the event of such a shift, he said, staying upbeat, “I know the president and Congress would be most anxious to consider a new Israeli use for those monies.”

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http://www.forward.com/articles/134424/

[Parche]

1. great more of our tax dollars

going overseas helping other countries instead of us