A U.S. House panel has voted to allocate $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Each of the intercepting missiles that is launched to knock out an incoming Grad Katyusha missile fired at civilians in southern Israel by Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists in Gaza costs $50,000.

The House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee appropriated $947 million for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow on Monday.

U.S. Representative Steve Rothman said in a statement that it was the highest ever appropriation in a single year for the military programs.

The House Armed Services subcommittee last month voted to add $680 million in funding for the program in its fiscal 2013 defense spending budget on top of nearly $100 million in U.S. aid for medium and long-range missile defense.

The bi-partisan move came in the face of spending cuts in other areas, some of which were restored in the new bill put forth Monday.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate before being sent on to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

Lawmakers agreed to invest millions of dollars in the Iron Dome anti-missile weapon for Israel, as long as the United States is able to acquire the development rights to the weapon system, The Hill reported last month.