The US government pushes a new-fangled $680-million weapons package to Israel while regional matters take unexpected turns. The deal (which includes lots of bomb-making kits and small-diameter explosives) comes right after things got quieter on the Lebanon border
Last summer‚ Washington approved a huge $20-billion military sale to Israel; this new deal adds to Americas long-standing support. Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out weapon supplies issues in his recent talk: “Its no secret that we had big delays in weapons deliveries‚ but thats gonna change soon“
The package went through several steps since fall:
- First look by congress in Sept
- Official review start in Oct
- Final decision process now
The timing is interesting - while things cool down with Hezbollah up north Israel still deals with issues down south. Since the conflict began about a year ago; US sent over 10000 heavy bombs to its middle-east ally
Progressive lawmakers like Bernie Sanders tried to stop some weapon sales due to Gaza situation where most of 2.3 million people left their homes. However their effort didnt succeed: the Senate blocked this move last week
A State Department person (who didnt want to share their name) says US stays firm with Israel against Iran-backed threats; but reminds that protecting regular people is super-important