IsraelAdelson offered to pay for Iron Dome’s development
In 2013, shortly after Congress had passed a funding bill for the joint Pentagon-Israel Iron Dome missile defense system, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), then the Senate’s majority leader, received a call from one of his constituents, the gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Adelson asked Reid to convey to the White House a most unusual offer: He, Adelson, was willing personally to contribute $1 billion of his own money toward the development costs of Iron Dome.
Ironn Dome missile launch // Source: commons.wikimedia.org
In 2013, shortly after Congress had passed a funding bill for the joint Pentagon-Israel Iron Dome missile defense system, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), then the Senate’s majority leader, received a call from one of his constituents. Politico reports that in that call, the gambling billionaire Sheldon Adelson asked Reid to convey to the White House a most unusual offer: He, Adelson, was willing personally to contribute $1 billion of his own money toward the development costs of Iron Dome.
He asked Reid to convey his offer to the White House.
“I’ll call the president right away,” Reid told him, according to knowledgeable sourcs.
Reid then approached the White House chief of staff, Dennis McDonough, with the unusual proposal – and McDonough suggested Reid call the president.
Politico reports that Obama was thrown off his guard momentarily — “What?!” he asked Reid. The president then asked Reid to thank Adelson, but also to tell him that private funding of weapons development would not set a good precedent.
Adelson’s idea never got off the ground.
