The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, which includes $1 billion in emergency funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system, Haaretz reports.
After the round of fighting in Gaza last May, US President Joe Biden said he ensured then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his “full support to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome system.”
The House in September overwhelmingly approved funding for the Iron Dome as a standalone measure following a brief uproar about including it in a stopgap funding measure.
Despite its overwhelming support in the House as a standalone bill, the Iron Dome funding has remained stagnant in the Senate since October due to Republican Sen. Rand Paul blocking it from being fast-tracked through the Senate via unanimous consent.
In October, Paul blocked a Senate effort to fast-track $1 billion in emergency Iron Dome missile defense system funding to Israel.
Days earlier, Paul objected to swift passage of the Iron Dome bill. In December, he once again blocked attempts to pass the law.
The bill approved on Wednesday also covers the $3.3 billion in security assistance and $500 million in missile-defense partnerships, previously agreed upon as part of the 2015 memorandum of understanding between the US and Israel.
It also includes the Israel Relations Normalization Act, a bill with wide bipartisan support that aims to strengthen and expand Israel's normalization pacts with Arab states.
The bill will now head to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed prior to the weekend, at which point it will be sent to Biden to sign it into law.
The pro-Israel lobby AIPAC welcomed Wednesday’s vote and wrote on Twitter, “A strong Israel makes America more secure.”
“The House just passed the largest-ever funding package to Israel — including $4.8 billion in security assistance & missile defense funding — demonstrating overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress for the U.S.-Israel relationship,” it said.