The Biden administration has delayed the sale of thousands of precision weapons to Israel, raising questions about whether the US is deliberately slowing the delivery of arms to its top Middle East ally amid growing domestic political pressure.
The administration faces pressure from a growing number of Democratic lawmakers to cut back arms supplies to Israel over civilian casualties in Gaza. The US decision comes as the administration pushes back on Israel's declared plan to attack the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The White House has so far publicly resisted calls to limit weapons sales despite mounting criticism about the death toll and destruction within Gaza through US-provided weapons.
At issue is the sale of up to 6,500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) – kits that enable unguided bombs to be precision-guided – according to officials familiar with the proposed deal worth as much as $260 million. Congress first learned in January about the potential sale, but the Biden administration has not moved forward with the deal since then.
White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby on Monday declined to comment on whether any arms sales to Israel had been put on hold. "Our security commitments to Israel are ironclad," he said during the White House briefing.
The State Department is required to notify Congress when the US plans weapons sales to other countries above certain dollar thresholds. While the State Department typically provides advance notice to congressional committees ahead of potential arms sales, in the case of the JDAMs, the administration never followed up with the official notification — effectively pausing the deal, according to current and former US officials. "It's unusual, especially for Israel, especially during a war," said a congressional official familiar with the arms sales process, who added they didn't know the reason for the delay.
If deliberate, the JDAM delay "would be the first instance since this war began where the administration took such an action on weapons we know have been used in Gaza," said Seth Binder, an expert on US arms sales with the Washington-based Middle East Democracy Center.
Since March, the Biden administration also has not advanced the notification process for another one billion in proposed weapons deals for Israel including tank ammunition, military vehicles, and mortar rounds that would take months or years to deliver, US officials said.
The JDAM delay also comes amid nationwide protests at college campuses about US weapon sales and support for Israel's Gaza campaign. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found 38% of Americans believe the US is doing too much to support Israel, up from 32% in January.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment on individual cases but said: "The United States has surged billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel since the October 7 attacks, passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistance to Israel." Most of Israel's US weapons purchases are made using billions in annual American military aid. Israel is among the world's largest recipients of such aid.
Last month, Congress passed and President Biden signed a bill providing $26 billion more for Israel, including over $5 billion to restock its air defenses after months of Republican objections to Ukraine aid delayed the legislation.
