"Promoting the military and intelligence ties between the two countries
was a safe subject: Mr. Obama announced that they would explore a new,
10-year military aid agreement.
The United States has already committed nearly $1 billion to the Iron
Dome system, which was put into service in April 2011, shooting down
short- and medium-range rockets fired from Gaza.
“They are constantly improving, so we have to improve our systems,” Yair
Ramati, the director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, said
in an interview. “Without the support of the United States, we will not
be able to cope with this rate of change.”
Israeli officials say that Iron Dome has been a huge success,
intercepting 86 percent of the 521 incoming rockets it engaged in the
Gaza conflict. Some American missile-defense experts have questioned
that figure, putting the hit rate at closer to 10 percent."
