US lawmakers boost funding for Israel's Iron Dome

US lawmakers boost funding for Israel's Iron Dome: With US ally Israel facing a barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, a Senate panel on Tuesday approved a 50 percent funding boost for the Jewish State's Iron Dome anti-missile system.The measure, if it becomes law, would provide $621.6 million for Israeli missile defense programs for the 2015 fiscal year starting in October, including $351 million for the short-range Iron Dome system that has been put to the test over the past eight days amid a raging conflict between Israel and Hamas.Congress appropriated $235 million to Iron Dome last year.The White House had requested about $176 million for the system for 2015, but lawmakers doubled the amount.