The Pentagon announced it will provide the Zionist entity with an extra $70 million in the coming months for its Iron Dome missile system, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said after a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak

The Pentagon announced it will provide the Zionist entity with an extra $70 million in the coming months for its Iron Dome missile system, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said after a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday, CNN reported.

The system uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up in midair Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of 5 km (3 miles) to 70 km (45 miles), as well as mortar bombs.

So far, the United States has provided $205 million to support the Iron Dome.

But top Republicans have criticized President Barack Obama for what they described as “inadequate funding” of U.S.-Israeli missile defense cooperation in his 2013 budget request released in February amid deficit-reduction requirements, Haaretz said.

"My goal is to ensure Israel has the funding it needs each year to produce these batteries that can protect its citizens," Panetta said. He said the $70 million would be provided this fiscal year, which ends in September.

"This is assistance that, provided Congress concurs, we can move quickly, to ensure no shortage in this important system," Panetta said in a statement after meeting Barak at the Pentagon.