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Obama, Congress hurtle toward showdown over Israel missile defense

Lawmakers are feeling a lot more generous than the Obama administration when it comes to Israel's safety.
A recently located Iron Dome battary can be seen near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon  outside the Gaza Strip June 7, 2015. Israeli aircraft struck the Northern Gaza Strip on Sunday and Israel closed the border crossing with the Hamas-controlled territory after a rocket attack on Saturday claimed by the Omar Brigades, a Palestinian group that supports Islamic State. REUTERS/Amir Cohen  - RTX1FHS4
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Congress and the Barack Obama administration are once again on a collision course over missile defense aid for Israel as lawmakers begin to mark up their Defense bills for the next fiscal year. 

The House Armed Services Committee on April 27 took up an annual Defense bill that would authorize $332 million for Iron Dome and other defensive systems, more than double the $145.8 million included in the Department of Defense request. Meanwhile, the purse-string holders in the Senate have made it clear that they will seek a substantial increase over the Pentagon's request, which is on top of the $1.3 billion in annual military assistance to Israel under a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that expires in 2018. 

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