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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Barak urges US for Arrow 3 funding |
| 2009-04-17 |
| [Jerusalem Post Front Page] Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Thursday with a US congressional delegation and urged them to help Israel secure funding for the development and production of the Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense system. Israel is concerned that the US administration will cut the funding for the Arrow 3 in the context of the cuts Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made to the US defense budget. Israel and the US have been jointly funding the development of the Arrow since its inception in the late 1980s. The Arrow is developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing. The congressional delegation was led by Nita Lowey from New York who serves as the chairwoman of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. While it is not Lowey's committee which approves the funding for the Arrow, she is influential on Capital Hill in securing funding for weapons programs. Barak gave Lowey a briefing on the recent successful interception tests conducted by the Arrow ballistic missile system and the Iron Dome system, under development to intercept short-range rockets. Defense officials said they were confident that Lowey understood the need to continue funding and developing the Arrow 3, which will be capable of intercepting longer-range rockets at higher altitudes and further away from Israel. Also Thursday, Barak met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov and asked that his country not supply Syria or Iran with advanced weaponry, particularly anti-aircraft missiles. Barak stressed that Russia had an important role in the peace process and in preserving Middle East stability. He added that although the US was leading the diplomatic process in the region, Israel would be happy to cooperate with Russia. Barak also met Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos and hailed efforts by the Madrid government in stopping legal proceedings against Israeli officials involved in the 2002 Gaza assassination of Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh in which 14 others were killed. |
| Posted by:Fred |