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WASHINGTON – A key congressional committee wants to increase the funding for US-Israeli missile defense programs to a historic high in the coming year.The US House defense appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday approved increasing missile defense funds to $235.7 million in 2012, up from $217.7 million in 2011.The aid would go to the Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and David’s Sling projects.The subcommittee decision is a preliminary one, as the entire bill has to be voted on by the entire committee and no timeline has been set for its consideration.Appropriations bills are so contentious in the divided Congress that last year’s federal budget was never approved.Still, given the US fiscal crisis and efforts to slash budgets, pro-Israel activists have been pleased to see robust efforts to aid Israel’s defense continued by both Democrats and Republicans.“Given America’s significant budget challenges, every single dollar we are expending on behalf of the US taxpayer must be given the highest level of scrutiny, including funds appropriated toward the defense of the United States and its allies,” committee member Rep. Steve Rothman (D-New Jersey) said following the funding approval.“It is a mark of the importance of these jointly developed missile defense programs – Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and David’s Sling – that they were all robustly funded by our subcommittee.”