Israel receives military equipment worth more than 20 billion dollars from the USA. However, the weapons are not intended to be used in the war in the Gaza Strip.
The US government has approved large-scale arms sales to Israel. Congress has been informed of the impending sale of military equipment worth more than 20 billion US dollars (around 18 billion euros), the US State Department announced. The package includes, among other things, more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, 33,000 rounds of tank ammunition, high-explosive mortars and tactical military vehicles.
Weapons deliveries to Israel should not serve the Gaza war
The fulfillment of such contracts by the arms industry is a process that takes years – for example, the delivery of tank ammunition is not scheduled to begin until 2027, and that of fighter aircraft until 2029. This is therefore about the long-term equipment of the Israeli military, not its equipment in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The United States is Israel’s main protecting power. However, relations between the two countries are strained due to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip – and especially due to the high number of civilian war casualties and the humanitarian catastrophe in the conflict zone.
For the US government under President Joe Biden, dealing with military aid to Israel is a domestic political balancing act. Human rights activists and individual members of the left wing of his Democratic Party had called on Biden to limit or completely stop arms exports to Israel in view of the tens of thousands of deaths in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to Palestinian sources.
In May, Biden put a planned delivery of heavy bombs to Israel on hold in view of the impending Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. However, according to Washington, other deliveries were not affected. Regarding the delivery of the F-15 jets to Israel, the State Department said that the US was “committed to Israel’s security”. It was “critical to US national interests to help Israel develop and maintain a strong and operational defense readiness”.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
