WASHINGTON – The United States government has officially informed the congress regarding the decision to continue the sale of weapons to Israel with a total value of more than 8 billion US dollars. This step accelerates the process without going through informal review procedures that were previously taking place at the House of Representatives Commission.
According to the New York Times report, this decision was announced only two days after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. On this occasion, Trump stated that the US would try to “control” the Gaza Strip and turn it into “Riviera Middle East.”
The congress received an official notification last Thursday. On the same day, Pentagon announced two main decisions related to the sale of the weapon. First, the US will sell 3,000 Hellfire’s air-to-surface missiles to Israel with a transaction value of 660 million US dollars. Second, the US will send bombs and guide equipment with a total value of 7.75 billion US dollars.
However, Pentagon has not issued an official statement related to the sale of artillery bullets, which are categorized as direct commercial sales so that they do not require detailed reports. Overall, the total value of this sales exceeds the number of 8 billion US dollars.
This agreement was first announced by the government of former President Joe Biden in early January. After that, the proposal was submitted to the DPR Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the informal review process. With this latest step, the process is passed, accelerating the implementation of the agreement.
This decision reaps various reactions from the political and international community. Supporters stated that this step strengthened the strategic relations between the US and Israel, while those who opposed the potential of their impact on the situation in the Middle East.