US weighs selling new fighter jets, missiles and guidance kits to Israel
Some of the weapons could take years to arrive in Israel, but the move comes as the administration faces pressure to condition arms transfers.
The U.S. government is considering major new weapons sales to Israel of fighter jets, air-to-air missiles and guidance kits, as calls grow for the U.S. to withhold arms if Israel won’t do more to limit civilian casualties in Gaza.
The Biden administration is weighing selling Israel up to 50 new F-15 fighter jets, 30 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, and a number of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn dumb bombs into precision-guided weapons, according to a congressional aide and a person familiar with the discussions. The people were granted anonymity to speak ahead of an announcement.
While the sale is still pending U.S. government approval — and it will be years before the weapons arrive in Israel — the administration has already informally notified the relevant congressional committees, according to the congressional aide. That step typically means the administration is ready to move forward with the sale.
The F-15 sale alone is valued at up to $18 billion and was notified to the committees in February, according to the congressional aide.
A Defense Department spokesperson referred questions to the State Department. A State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on potential future sales.
News of the potentially pending agreements comes as critics inside and outside the U.S. government say President Joe Biden has a responsibility to limit weapons sales to Israel as the death toll rises in Gaza. Even members of Biden’s party have recently criticized Israel harshly for its operations in the enclave. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. government and historically a strong ally of Israel, last month called for new Israeli elections, prompting outrage from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
It also comes amid a rift among Democrats about whether Biden should leverage arms sales in his efforts to pressure Netanyahu not to launch a large-scale invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million civilians are sheltering from fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the north.
Hamas still holds over 100 Israeli hostages — the majority of them civilians — after snatching them during its Oct. 7 assault on Israeli towns, and officials are negotiating swapping hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has said that blocking sales of offensive weapons, something Biden has been reluctant to do, should be under consideration.
Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department in protest over America’s continued lethal assistance to Israel, said the consummation of the deal would be “further proof” that the administration is unwilling to take a tough tack with Netanyahu.
“I think for all the president’s talk of wanting to restrain Israel’s operations in Rafah, this is continuing evidence that in practice, the administration continues to move on transfers for Israel, regardless of the situation on the ground in Gaza and the political context in the U.S.,” Paul said. “It is committed to its support for Israel, and this is proof of that.”
An Israeli airstrike Monday destroyed the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Syria, killing a senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer and several other people, according to Syrian state media. The IRGC funnels weapons and conducts training for militant groups across the region.
Biden administration officials were expected to meet virtually with Israeli officials on Monday to discuss Israel’s plans for an operation in Rafah to root out the remnants of Hamas. U.S. officials have urged their Israeli counterparts in recent weeks not to mount a full-on ground offensive in the city, because more than 1 million civilians are sheltering there. Most of the Israeli hostages are also believed to be somewhere in the city.
U.S. officials have said publicly that they believe going into Rafah without a plan to protect those civilians would be a mistake.
The news that the Biden administration is weighing new weapons sales comes days after the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration was moving forward with a yearsold arms package for Israel, including more than 1,800 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK-82 500-pound bombs. Congress had been informed of parts of that package as long ago as 2008.
Like the F-15s and new munitions being weighed, those bombs won’t arrive in Israel for several years.