According to three members of Congress, the Biden administration made known to key lawmakers on Tuesday that it had decided to send Israel a new package worth more than$ 1 billion in weapons and ammunition.
Israel has received its first arms package news since it stopped another 3,500 bombing transfer earlier this month. The administration made it clear that the earlier move had been postponed in order to stop Israel from using the bombs in Rafah, a densely populated southern Gaza town, as a result.
The congressional aides, speaking anonymously, disclosed that the package includes approximately$ 700 million earmarked for tank ammunition,$ 500 million for tactical vehicles, and$ 60 million for mortar rounds. The sale of arms is still undetermined. Israel is now in its seventh month of hostilities with Hamas in Gaza.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the package’s relocation ideas. House Republicans had been working on a bill this week that would require the distribution of offensive weapons to Israel. This action is in response to President Biden’s recent decision to halt weapon supplies, which quickly received the slack from Republicans who claim it signals a US withdrawal from its most alliance in the Middle East.
If the expenses were to go Congress, President Biden’s aides announced on Tuesday that they would reject it. There is some division among House Democrats on the problem, despite the fact that the act is unlikely to gain momentum in the Democratic-controlled Senate. A letter to the Biden administration from roughly two hundred House Democrats expresses “deep problem” about the information being sent by pausing the weapon shipment.
Also, the White House engaged in discussions with several lawmakers and congressional advisers regarding the policy, according to an administration official.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated this week that” we firmly, strongly oppose efforts to limit the President’s ability to build U.S. security assistance in a manner consistent with US foreign policy and national security goals.” The administration also stated that it intends to spend “every next cent” on the national security optional package, which was signed into law by Biden next month.
