While negotiations with Congress have stalled, the Biden administration plowed forward with an emergency justification for the conditional sale of over $100 million in arms to Israel.
(Video: ABC News)
A deal over the roughly $106 billion package promoted by President Joe Biden, which primarily aimed to fund Ukraine with some money for Israel, remained stalled as Congressional Republicans endeavored to include U.S. border security in the supplemental. Saturday, the administration revealed it had managed a workaround that allowed for nearly 14,000 tank cartridges to be sold to Israel under the pretense of emergency.
In a release from the United States Department of Defense’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), it was explained that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had justified the emergency to Congress on Friday, “thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended.”
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the DSCA release said.
“Israel will use enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces,” it continued and claimed, “The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
Details of the $106.5 million, secured 13,981 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer (MPAT) tank cartridges, along with technical documents, support services “and other related elements of logistics and program support.”
Speaking to the sale bypassing Congress, Blinken joined ABC News Sunday where he spoke with Martha Raddatz on “This Week” and said, “When it comes to the weapons that we transfer, there are rules that go along with them. Those rules apply to Israel, as they do to any other country, including the way they’re used and the need — the imperative of respecting international humanitarian law.”
“In the case of these particular weapons that you — that you mentioned, Israel is in combat right now with Hamas, a group that viciously attacked it on Oct. 7, that has said that if given the opportunity, it will repeat Oct. 7 again and again and again,” the secretary said. “It continues to launch rockets against Israeli civilians and we want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas; a small portion of what has been requested is going through on an emergency basis.”
The announcement on the emergency sale also came as Blinken continued in person communications with officials throughout the Middle East that spoke to a two-state solution.
“I met with an Arab League-OIC delegation from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the Palestinian Authority to discuss efforts to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs,” a post on X stated. “We discussed our shared goal of establishing a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.”
I met with an Arab League-OIC delegation from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the Palestinian Authority to discuss efforts to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs. We discussed our shared goal of establishing a future Palestinian state alongside Israel. pic.twitter.com/xvklpMJ6xo
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 9, 2023
As detailed by the Associated Press, “At least four administrations have used the authority since 1979. President George H.W. Bush’s administration used it during the Gulf War to get arms quickly to Saudi Arabia.” Additionally, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had justified $8.1 billion in weapon sales in May 2019 that went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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