The US House of Representatives passed on Friday an aid package to Israel valued at $500 million designated for assistance to Israel in missile-defense, JNS reported. The financial aid will mostly go towards the Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow missile defense systems. The bill specified that '$500,000,000 shall be for the Israeli Cooperative Programs...for the procurement of the Iron Dome defense system to counter short-range rocket threats...for the Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense (SRBMD) program... for co-production activities of Arrow 3 Upper Tier systems in the United States and in Israel.' The funds allocated are part of the 2016 MOU between the countries, worth $38 billion over a decade. Apart from the missile defense systems, out of the total budget, $47.5 million will be allocated towards anti-tunnel technology cooperation, $4 million for new US-Israel collaboration on coronavirus research and $6 million for joint US-Israel cooperative programs in energy and water, according to JNS. The bill will next head to the Senate, where it is expected to be amended.
