For the second time within a month, the administration of US President Joe Biden has decided to bypass Congress and sell Israel artillery shells to the tune of over $100 million. On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the sale of 155 millimeter shells, plus ancillary equipment, with a total value of $147.5 million.
Blinken determined that it was a case of an emergency, and he therefore exercised his authority to waive the need for Congressional approval . On December 9, the US announced a decision to approve the sale to Israel of 120 millimeter armor piercing shells to a value of $106.5 million.
The first sale took place three days after the US Senate blocked a presidential bill for aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and an allocation of funds to improvement of US border security. The bill fell because it did not include measures to restrict immigration to the US as demanded by the Republican Party. The proposed aid to Israel in the bill was $10 billion, which is equivalent to three years of routine US military aid, and about half of Israel’s defense budget.
"The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US 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 US State Department said in a statement on Friday.
"We continue to strongly emphasize to the government of Israel that they must not only comply with international humanitarian law, but also take every feasible step to prevent harm to civilians," the statement added.
The Biden administration is at least the fourth to exercise the Secretary of State’s authority to bypass review of arms sales by Congress. In the previous administration, of Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo authorized the sale of arms in May 2019 to the tune of $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan, realizing that Congress would not approve the sale because of the civil war in Yemen.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 31, 2023.
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