JNS
The sale includes the provision of 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs that had been frozen or paused during the Biden administration.
The Trump administration approved a $510 million weapons sale to Israel on Monday.
The sale includes munitions that were at the center of a Biden administration controversy about freezes, pauses and the slow rolling of provision of arms to Israel.
Washington will sell Israel more than 7,000 bombs—both 500-pound and 2,000-pound varieties—and their affiliated guidance kits, per an announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
“The proposed sale will enhance Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to defend Israel’s borders, vital infrastructure and population centers,” the agency stated.
“This proposed sale will increase the interoperability with U.S. forces and conveys U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and armed forces modernization,” it said. “Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”
Critics of Israel’s use of American-made bombs allege that they have caused excessive civilian casualties in urban areas in Gaza and elsewhere.
The Israeli military has said it needs the heavy bombs to penetrate Hamas and Hezbollah tunnels and other hardened, underground structures.
Upon coming into office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would undo former President Joe Biden’s formal freeze on the sale of 2,000-pound bombs and end any informal efforts to bureaucratically slow the provision of arms to Israel.
Biden had also paused the sale of 500-pound bombs for two months in 2024, but resumed sales in July of that year.
Monday’s authorization follows a much larger Israeli restock in February when it purchased more than 35,000 new bombs for more than $2 billion.
AIPAC thanked Trump for the new sale. “The Jewish state is buying American-made products to help protect its families and confront its enemies,” it stated. “A strong Israel makes America more secure.”
