In the midst of the war with Iran, the United States approved the sale of 12,000 470 kg bombs, engineering services, logistics, and technical support to Israel on Friday, March 6th. “The proposed sale will enhance Israel’s ability to address current and future threats,” stated the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the State Department in a press release, “and will strengthen its national defense and serve as a deterrent against regional threats.”
To fulfill this $151.8 million sale, American companies have agreed to quadruple their production of sophisticated weapons, according to statements by Donald Trump. This sale comes at a time when Pentagon officials are seeking to replenish American ammunition reserves, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, systems like Patriot, Tomahawk, and Thaad missiles have been heavily utilized, and stocks of some of these weapons have been depleted.
And what about Congress? While sales of American weapons require approval from Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio “has determined and provided a detailed justification that there is an urgent situation necessitating the immediate sale to the Israeli government of the aforementioned defense articles and services in the interest of U.S. national security,” announced the State Department, citing a law to validate this agreement.
This stance has sparked a reaction from the opposition. Democrat Gregory Meeks, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that by bypassing Congress, the Trump administration was revealing “a blatant contradiction at the core of the arguments in favor of war.”
