WASHINGTON — The United States has approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles, the State Department announced Tuesday.
Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, advanced air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAMs, 120mm tank ammunition and high-explosive mortars and tactical vehicles, and comes at a time of intense concern that Israel could be involved in a wider Middle East war.
However, the weapons are not expected to arrive in Israel anytime soon, they are contracts that will take years to fulfill. Much of what is sold is to help Israel increase its military capability in the long term.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is critical to the national interests of the United States to help Israel develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those goals,” the State Department said in a press release about the sale.
The Biden administration has had to balance its continued support for Israel with a growing number of calls from lawmakers and the American public to curb military support there because of the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza. It has halted a shipment of 2,000 pounds of weapons amid continued Israeli airstrikes in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza.
The contracts will not only cover the sale of 50 new aircraft to be produced by Boeing. It will also include upgrade kits for Israel to modify its existing fleet of two dozen F-15 fighter jets with new engines and radars, among other upgrades. The jets make up the bulk of the $20 billion in sales with the first deliveries expected in 2029.