Capitol Hill. Photo: wiki commons.

UPI – Key leaders of the U.S. Congress want U.S. President Barack Obama to provide funds to help Israel, should it request it, to produce more batteries of the Iron Dome counter-rocket system.

Israel’s air force has three batteries deployed to protect cities in the southern Negev Desert against rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip but budget problems mean it can’t fund more batteries needed to shield the rest of the country.