Despite the fact that the Biden administration is trying to convince Israel to change its plans for an invasion of Rafah, it is still reportedly planning to sell the country $18 billion worth of weapons.
A new report from Politico outlined that the White House is considering selling weapons to Israel that would include guidance kits, air-to-air missiles and fighter jets. This is all coming, of course, as more and more people are calling on America to withhold arms from Israel if the country doesn’t work harder to limit the amount of civilian casualties in Gaza.
Politico cited one congressional aide as well as another person who was familiar with the discussions in its report.
The sale of these weapons would still need approval from the government, and even if that approval is given, those weapons likely wouldn’t appear in Israel for years.
The Biden administration has informally notified the relevant committees in Congress of the plans to sell these weapons, the sources said. Typically speaking, that step shows that the White House is ready to work toward finalizing the sale.
The sale of as much as 50 new F-15 fighter jets would be valued at as much as $18 billion, the congressional aide said.
This move seems to be in contrast to what many people — even many within President Joe Biden’s party — are suggesting, that the U.S. has a responsibility to limit the sale of weapons to Israel as more and more people are dying in the war.
Just last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel that would bring a new government to the country, which obviously angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government.
Democrats are split on whether they should leverage the sale of arms as a way to potentially pressure Netanyahu to halt plans of a large-scale invasion of Rafah, a city in the southern part of Gaza.
More than 1 million civilians reportedly are sheltering there after being forced to leave behind their homes in other parts of the enclave.
Israel remains steadfast in its promise to continue the war until Hamas until the terrorist organization is completely eradicated. It has also balked at ceasefire negotiations unless Hamas releases the roughly 100 hostages it still has in captivity.
Josh Paul, who worked for the State Department but resigned in protest of America’s continued military assistance to Israel, said consummating this new arms deal with Israel would just be “further proof” that the Biden administration won’t take a tough stance with Netanyahu.
As he said:
“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. It is committed to its support for Israel, and this is proof of that.”
