Obama Seeks $205 Million to Fund Israeli Missile Defense

Funds Would Be in Addition to Billions in Annual Aid

With the deficit soaring and America’s own military facing a prospective budget crunch, President Obama today announced that he intends to seek $205 million in additional funding for Israel’s missile defense system.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor, who announced the proposal, cited the “threat” posed by Hamas and Hezbollah as the reason for the funding of the “Iron Dome” system, made by Israel’s state owned weapons company Rafael.

The $205 million, if approved, will be in addition to the roughly $3 billion the Obama Administration has set aside annually for military aid to Israel.

Iron Dome has faced considerable criticism based on cost overruns and a checkered history of testing. Even if it eventually proves effective the wisdom of spending some $50,000 per missile to shoot down the inexpensive rockets it is effective against has been questioned.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.