The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on Tuesday approved legislation that would among other things double U.S. aid for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, deepening military ties between Washington and Jerusalem:

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee approved a defense spending bill on Tuesday that would provide $621.6 million for Israeli missile defense, including $351 million for the Iron Dome system that intercepts short-range rockets and mortars. In the latest hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Iron Dome has been successful in shooting down rockets and preventing Israeli deaths.

“It works,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat and chairman of the subcommittee.

The bill’s approval comes a day after the release of a new national survey by Paragon Insights, which found substantial American support for Jerusalem’s actions – nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of 1,951 likely voters surveyed between July 10-13 responded that “Israel has the right and the obligation to protect its citizens from Hamas’ rocket fire directed at Israeli civilians through the use of military force.”

Rocket attacks emanating from Syria, Lebanon, and the Sinai Peninsula have put all of Israel under threat of rocket attack and necessitated the defense system’s use. Since the start of Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s Iron Dome – which has a success rate of roughly 90 percent, up from 85 percent during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 – has intercepted more than 145 rockets fired out of Gaza, preventing strikes in major Israeli population centers.

The financing for Iron Dome’s research came from the Israeli government, but the production of its batteries is financed by the Pentagon. Military experts have envisioned that modified battlefield versions of Iron Dome could be deployed in support of U.S. soldiers, and the platform will likely be also used to defend U.S. allies like South Korea and Singapore.

 [Photo: Nehemia Gershuni / Flickr]