Trump administration seeks congressional approval for $1 billion arms sale to Israel

Trump seeks congressional approval for $1 billion arms sale to Israel. The Trump administration has asked congressional leaders to approve transfers of nearly $1 billion worth of new bombs and other military hardware to Israel, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

The planned arms sales include 4,700 1,000-pound bombs worth more than $700 million, as well as armored bulldozers made by Caterpillar worth more than $300 million, officials said. The new arms requests, which will be paid for out of billions of dollars in annual US military aid to Israel, came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are expected to press Trump to fulfill a separate set of arms transfers requested by the Biden administration, totaling more than $8 billion in new bombs, missiles, and artillery shells. The Biden administration had informed key congressional leaders about this sale in January before leaving office. A congressional official said the weapons have not yet received full approval due to obstruction by some Democratic lawmakers.

The State Department informs Congress when the US plans to sell weapons above certain dollar thresholds. The ministry informs the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees in advance of these potential sales, followed by formal congressional notification. The committees must approve the sales.

Prior to Israel’s spring invasion of the southern Gaza town of Rafah, the US had suspended shipments of 2,000 kg bombs. Last week, the Trump administration lifted this suspension and signaled that it would not halt future arms shipments to Israel.

Speaking about the decision on Air Force One last week, Mr. Trump said he was releasing the bombs because “they’ve paid for them, and they’ve been waiting a long time.”

Netanyahu later thanked Trump in a video message released by his office. “Thank you, President Trump, for keeping your promise to give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself, confront our common enemies, and secure a future of peace and prosperity,” Netanyahu said.

The 1,000 kg bombs the administration is offering to send as part of the latest sale include 4,500 BLU-110s and 200 Mk-83s, which the Pentagon calls “general-purpose bombs.” Caterpillar’s D9 armored bulldozers could face scrutiny from progressives in Congress over Israel’s past use of them to demolish Palestinian homes.