(JTA) — United States military aid to Israel for fiscal year 2011 has been delayed for three months.
The more than $3 million in military aid, among the largest amount Israel has ever received, includes grants to upgrade the Iron Dome and Arrow anti-ballistic missile systems.
The delay follows the Obama’s administration’s difficulty in passing the annual 2011 budget, which forced the president to sign a presidential order extending the current budget through March. Funding for the budget will be disbursed on a month-to-month basis until then.
Israel usually receives its aid in a lump sum, 30 days after the U.S. annual budget is signed by the president, the Israeli business daily Globes reported. Because of this, Israel stands to lose millions of dollars in interest payments.
Israel received $2.4 billion in the U.S.’s 2010 fiscal budget. The 2011 budget is set to include, among other things, an additional $415 million to build and operate anti-missile systems, $25 million for immigrant absorption and $2 million for the Department of Energy’s energy research cooperation program, according to Globes. .
The new Republican leadership in the House of Representatives includes many opponents of foreign aid.
