The Biden administration is pushing forward with a new $1 billion weapons package for Israel just weeks after the White House paused a shipment of large bombs to protest Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza.
The White House notified Congress on Tuesday it will be proceeding with a potential weapons package of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The move shows how reluctant the Biden administration is to deepen its rift with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Journal reported.
It could take years for the proposed weapons package to be delivered.
The proposal comes as Israel is continuing a military offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is thought to be Hamas’s last major outpost. The offensive is Israel’s latest action in its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after the terror group massacred Israeli civilians on October 7.
The Biden administration has repeatedly warned Israel not to proceed with its plan to conduct a full-scale invasion of Rafah. On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly criticized Israel for its current efforts there, and suggested Israel would not successfully keep Hamas out of Gaza in the long run. The Biden administration recently held up a shipment of bombs to express displeasure with Israel’s battle plans in Rafah.
“But what we’ve been clear about is that if Israel launches this major military operation to Rafah, then there’s certain systems that we’re not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation. But at present, the only thing that we’ve delayed and are holding back are these high-payload bombs,” Blinken said on CBS’s Face the Nation.
He offered a similar message to Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on a phone call last week, the State Department said.
During an interview on CNN last week, President Joe Biden threatened to hold up more military aid to Israel if it continues to escalate its military campaign in Rafah. Many Republicans and some Democrats strongly criticized Biden’s remarks. Israel responded defiantly, with Netanyahu saying that “if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone.”
Congress passed a bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid package signed by Biden last month to support U.S. allies abroad. One component of the deal was $26 billion in aid for Israel and humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
A White House official told National Review last week that the Biden administration will receive every dollar appropriated by the bipartisan legislation. National Review has reached out for comment on the weapons package.
The far-left faction of the Democratic party strongly opposes U.S. aid for Israel’s war against Hamas and frequently demands more humanitarian support for Gazan civilians. Biden’s threat to restrict offensive weapons to Israel was deemed a “step forward” by the left-wing “uncommitted” protest vote movement.