Republicans blast Obama on missile defense funds for Israel

WASHINGTON – Two leading Republicans chastised US President Barack Obama for cutting missile defense funding to Israel in the 2013 budget, in a letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.“We are deeply concerned that at a time of rising threats to our strongest ally in the Middle East, the administration is requesting record-low support for this vital defense cooperation program,” wrote Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Buck McKeon, chair of the House Armed Services Committee.The new White House budget request reduces funding for joint US-Israel missile defense programs from $106 million for this year to $99 million in 2013.The authors noted that Congress ended up more than doubling the 2012 administration request to $215 million.