Biden administration set to greenlight $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel
The Biden administration is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The transaction, which would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7, comes as the administration is also expected to notify Congress soon of a large new sale of precision-guided munitions kits to Israel, the people said.
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, which killed over 1,200 Israelis, the US has made more than 100 foreign military sales to Israel. Most of those have fallen under the specific dollar amount that requires a notification to Congress, an official familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
But an $18 billion F-15 sale is large enough that it requires congressional notification, and the administration informally notified the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees of the F-15 sale in late January, according to two of the people familiar with the matter.
The informal notification gives lawmakers and congressional staff time to review the details and ask questions before the State Department sends a formal notification to all lawmakers.
The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. James Risch, has already given his approval on the sale, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. A congressional aide told CNN that House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has also approved the transaction to proceed to formal congressional notification.
But Sen. Ben Cardin, the Democratic chairman of the committee, as well as the Democratic ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, Rep. Greg Meeks, can still hold up the sale if they raise objections.
Unlike the precision guided munitions, the new F-15s would need to be built from scratch. A US official said there are no plans to expedite delivery of the jets to Israel so, if approved, they would not be delivered to Israel for at least five years.
Israeli officials have been urging the US to expedite the timeline if possible, CNN previously reported.
Along with up to 50 individual jets, the package also includes engines, gun systems, radars and navigation systems for the jets, three of the sources said. The package provides construction and contractor support and logistical infrastructure for training, sustainment, and maintenance of the fleet, as well as a mid-life update for Israel’s current fleet of F-15s.
A State Department spokesperson said, “We are unable to confirm potential or pending US arms transfers before they are formally notified to Congress.”
The Biden administration also quietly authorized a sale of F-35 fighter jets to Israel last week, the sources said. That sale did not require congressional notification because the intended sale was already notified to Congress in 2008.
The State Department spokesperson said that “as a matter of practicality, major procurements, like Israel’s F-35 program for example, are often broken out into several cases over many years.”
Sources told CNN that it was unclear why the Biden administration would approve such a large sale now, during an election year when the president’s policy towards Israel is under a microscope. The sale is not particularly urgent, given that Israel won’t be getting the jets for another few years, anyway.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/01/poli ... index.html
U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel (29. März 2024)
The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000-pound bombs have been linked to previous mass-casualty events throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. These officials, like some others, spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because recent authorizations have not been disclosed publicly.
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” said a White House official. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.”
The Israeli government declined to comment on the authorizations.
The increasingly public spat has not dissuaded Biden from rushing weapons and military equipment into the conflict. Last week, the State Department authorized the transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth roughly $2.5 billion, U.S. officials said. The case was approved by Congress in 2008, so the department was not required to provide a new notification to lawmakers.
The MK84 and MK82 bombs authorized this week for transfer also were approved by Congress years ago but had not yet been fulfilled.
When asked about the transfers, a State Department official said that “fulfilling an authorization from one notification to Congress can result in dozens of individual Foreign Military Sales cases across the decades-long life-cycle of the congressional notification.”
“As a matter of practicality, major procurements, like Israel’s F-35 program for example, are often broken out into several cases over many years,” the official added.
The Post’s reporting on the new weapons authorizations follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week in which he requested that the Biden administration expedite a range of weaponry.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that Israeli officials have been asking for weapons they consider important “in pretty much every meeting” he has been in with them.
Israel has “not received everything they’ve asked for,” Brown said. The United States has withheld some, he said, either due to capacity limits or because U.S. officials were not willing at the time. Brown did not identify the weapons.
Hours later, the Pentagon clarified Brown’s remarks, highlighting the issue’s sensitivity. Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, a spokesman for the general, said there has been no change in policy and that the United States assesses its stockpiles as it provides aid to partners. “The United States continues to provide security assistance to our ally Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas,” Dorsey said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... -gaza-war/
