Biden Administration Arms Sales and Transfers to Israel
This resource page details developments related to U.S. arms sales to Israel under the Biden administration, beginning with a May 5, 2021, notification by the Biden administration to Congress of a possible direct commercial sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel. That became controversial as fighting in Israel intensified and the notification became more broadly public around May 17, 2021.
In October 2023, as fighting erupted again, the Biden administration promised to rapidly deliver additional military assistance.
As explained in CRS reports, "In 2016, the U.S. and Israeli governments signed their third 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military aid, covering FY2019 to FY2028. Under the terms of the MOU, the United States pledged to provide—subject to congressional appropriation—$38 billion in military aid ($33 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants plus $5 billion in missile defense appropriations) to Israel."
For separate information on wider military buildup in the Middle East, this Responsible Statecraft resource is recommended.
Select Timeline
2024
On March 11, eight Senators sent a letter to President Biden urging him to enforce federal law (Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act) by requiring Netanyahu’s government to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel (see press release).
On March 6, the Washington Post reported that only two of 100 separate foreign military sales since October 7 have been public, with the rest falling below Congressional notification thresholds, together "amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid." (See also Wall Street Journal reporting for additional details on arms transfers, including indications that there "are currently 600 active cases of potential military transfer or sales worth more than $23 billion between the U.S. and Israel.")
On March 5, more than three dozen House Democrats send a letter to President Biden saying that "further expansion into Rafah would likely contravene the principles set forth in NSM-20" and that he should ensure all recipients of US aid are held accountable to that memorandum. (See February 8 entry below for a link to NSM-20.)
On March 3, Senator Sanders called on President Biden to invoke Section 620I (620 "eye") of the Foreign Assistance Act, citing in particular “No assistance shall be furnished … to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
On February 23, a number of United Nations Special Rapporteurs and UN experts issued a statement (see press release) called for an end of arms transfers to Israel, saying, “Such transfers are prohibited even if the exporting State does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law – or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way – as long as there is a clear risk.” Four Senators, led by Sen. Van Hollen, asked President Biden to "provide Congress with certain commitments and assurances from the Netanyahu government" before proposing major new arms transfers.
On February 13, the Senate passed a supplemental bill by a vote of 79-20 that would provide $14.1 billion in security assistance to Israel. House passage would still be needed.
On February 8, 2024, President Biden issued NSM-20, "National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services," that while not mentioning Israel directly was widely seen as related to the country via efforts by Senator Van Hollen and others to gain assurances that U.S.-provided weapons were properly used. (See December 7, 2023 entry below.)
On February 7, a hard-negotiated bipartisan supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 815) that included funds for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan as well as border-related measures failed 49-50 to move forward in the Senate. (See reporting.)
On February 6, a House supplemental funding bill focused on Israel failed to garner the two-thirds support to move forward (H.R. 7217).
On January 29, Sen. Warren and Rep. McGovern shared led a bicameral letter signed by nearly 20 members of Congress to Secretary of State Blinken asking about the use of emergency powers to expedite arms sales to Israel, including how State determined an emergency existed, whether its conventional arms transfer policy was applied, and what mitigation measures and conditions were put in place to reduce the risks of civilian harm. Also, reporting by the Trace examined data on handgun exports to Israel, finding that in October and November 2023 " the U.S. exported more than 27,500 handguns to Israel — more than in any full year over the past two decades."
On January 24, sixteen national and international organizations issued a letter calling "on all States to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law."
On January 18, a Guardian article examined whether special mechanisms have been used to shield Israel from US human rights laws.
On January 16, a vote to move S. Res 504 forward failed 72 to 11.
On January 11, 75 organizations released a letter encouraging co-sponsorship S.Res.504 requiring a report on Israel’s human rights practices and U.S. military aid to Israel (see also December 14, below)
On January 9, Sen. Tim Kaine, with a number of co-sponsors, said he plans to file an amendment to maintain the congressional notification requirement for all U.S. assistance to foreign militaries, in particular highlighting Foreign Military Financing for Israel.
2023
On December 29, Congress was notified of a $147.5 million sale declaring an emergency exists to bypass Congressional review period of fuzes for 155 mm artillery ammunition, adding it to a previously implemented FMS (Foreign Military Sales) case that included our thousand seven hundred ninety-two (4,792) rounds of M107 155mm artillery ammunition; fifty-two thousand two hundred twenty-nine (52,229) rounds of M795 155mm artillery ammunition; and thirty thousand (30,000) M4 propelling charges.
Around December 25, Israeli media were reporting that the United States had delivered more than 10,000 tons of military equipment to Israel but had not yet agreed to a request for Apache helicopters.
On December 17, an examination of U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. International Trade Commission data for October (posted in December) by the American Friends Service Committee found that U.S. companies dramatically increased the number of military rifles, handguns, ammunition and guided missile parts exported to Israel in October (see article).
On December 14, Sen. Sanders introduced a resolution under Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act that could, in time, lead to actions to cut off security assistance to Israel - S.Res.504. (See press release, text, as well as 502B explainer from CIVIC.)
On December 13, media reported that the Biden administration was holding up the licenses for more than 20,000 rifles (see also November 4-5 entry, below).
On December 8, Congress was notified of a $106.5 million sale declaring an emergency exists to bypass Congressional review period of nearly 14,000 120mm M830A1 tank cartridges via the Foreign Military Sales process.
On December 7,more than a dozen Senators introduced an amendment to require that the weapons received by any country under the proposed national security supplemental are used in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict. (See related Van Hollen oped.)
On December 5, five Senators sent a letter to President Biden calling for oversight of the use of U.S.-origin weapons by Israel in war against Hamas.
On December 1, fighting resumed after a week-long ceasefire. According to media reports, the United States has delivered roughly 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells since October 7, including 100 BLU-109, 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs.
On November 18, Sen. Sanders called for conditioning aid to Israel.
On November 16, Rep. Ilhan Omar with four co-sponsors introduced a joint resolution of disapproval on the Spice assemblies sale (see press release, tracker).
On November 14, media reported (here or here) that 36,000 rounds of 30mm cannon ammunition, 1,800 of 3,000 requested M141 bunker-buster munitions, at least 3,500 of 5,000 night-vision devices, some Hellfire missiles and other weapons had been delivered from the United States and European Union.
On November 13, more than 30 organizations sent a letter calling for not transferring 155 mm shells to Israel, and media reported that a resolution of disapproval would be introduced on the Spice assemblies sale (see October 30).
On November 8, a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus sent a letter to the President supporting "defensive systems, including Iron Dome and other air defense capabilities" and asking for "specific mechanisms you are putting in place to ensure that Israeli military operations conducted inside Gaza are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law and to ensure that any U.S.-provided equipment is used in a manner consistent with U.S. law."
On November 4 and 5, the Pentagon announced that the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the Middle East (Nov 4) and that an Ohio-class submarine had joined had joined Central Command/Fifth fleet (Nov 5). On the 5th, media outlets reported that Congress was raising concerns about an Israeli request for 24,000 assault rifles (see NYT, for example).
On October 30 (but not widely reported in media until November 6), Congress was notified of a potential $320 million sale of additional Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies -- see notification (obtained via media).
On October 24, the Defense Department announced that F-16s have been sent to the region, building on a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and additional Patriot missile battalions announced over the previous weekend (see official news).
On October 23, a Defense Department official clarified in a background briefing "...what has been provided to Israel through Direct Commercial Sales Contracts. That includes Small Diameter Bombs, ammunition and JDAM Tail Kits. As for 155 ammunition, what had happened prior to the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack, is some 155 had been withdrawn from the war reserve stockpile in Israel, to replenish U.S. stocks in Europe. Much of that has been redirected and provided to the Israel Defense Forces for their use."
On October 20, President Biden requested supplemental funding, including "procurement of Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems and components, and development of Iron Beam" for Israel. See factsheet, as well as letter (particularly Attachment 2-Israel), with media widely reporting as consisting of $14 billion for Israel. The administration also waived Congressional notification requirements regarding Foreign Military Financing.
On October 19, Defense Department confirmed that in addition to Iron Dome, the United States had been providing "precision-guided munitions, such as joint direct attack munitions, small-diameter bombs, 155-millimeter artillery ammunition and other categories of critical equipment." President Biden gave a national address from the Oval office in which he said he would be "asking Congress to do is an unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security that will sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge, which we’ve committed to..."
On October 14 during a visit to Israel, President Biden said "later this week, I’m going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense. We are going to keep Iron Dome fully supplied so it can continue standing sentinel over Israeli skies, saving Israeli lives."
On October 14, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that he had directed the "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to begin moving to the Eastern Mediterranean..." and that "Earlier in the week, the U.S. Air Force announced deployment to the region of squadrons of F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft."
On October 13, in prepared remarks in Israel, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, "security assistance from the Department of Defense is already rapidly flowing into Israel. That includes munitions, air-defense capacities, and other key equipment and resources. It also includes more interceptors for Iron Dome...".
October 10, according to media reports, Israel received 1,000 250-pound small diameter bombs that were expedited under a pre-existing contract.
October 8, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the U.S. would move the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean and that "the United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions."
October 7, as news of Hamas attacks in Israel and Israeli responses were coming, Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee promised to introduce legislation to provide missile defense and other military support to Israel.
On March 29, U.S. lawmakers Representative Bowman and Senator Sanders issued a statement to Secretary of State Blinken and President Biden, calling for an investigation into if weapons sent to Israel are being used to commit human rights violations against Palestinians. If this were the case, it would be in violation of Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act (see media here).
2022
According to CRS reporting, for FY2023 (Oct 1, 2022 to Sept 30, 2023), "Congress authorized $520 million for joint U.S.-Israel defense programs (including $500 million for missile defense) in the FY2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act. Per the terms of the MOU, Congress appropriated $3.8 billion for Israel (FMF and missile defense) in the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, and added $98.58 million in funding for other cooperative defense and nondefense programs."
In the omnibus appropriations legislation that became law on March 15, 2022, Congress provided $1 billion for Iron Dome supplies to Israel as stipulated in sec. 8142. This is in addition to the $500 million contributed annually for Israel's missile defense, bringing the total to $1.5 billion in 2022 (see media here).
2021
On September 21, 2021, House Democrats, responding to pressure from progressive colleagues, removed a provision from the stopgap government funding bill that would have provided $1 billion in funding to Israel's Iron Dome air defense system. The next day, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee introduced a separate bill (H.R. 5323) to provide the Iron Dome funding, which passed the House in a 420-9 vote on September 23 (see vote). On October 4, Senator Menendez called for unanimous consent to approve funding, to which Sen. Paul objected. (See update, above, from March 2022.)
On July 30, a new notification of a possible $3.4 billion foreign military sale was notified to Congress, including 18 heavy lift helicopters and other equipment.
On July 27, Human Rights Watch issued a report finding that Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups carried out attacks during the May 2021 fighting "that violated the laws of war and apparently amount to war crimes."
On June 8, a diverse group of more than 100 organizations sent a letter to President Biden urging him to halt the sale (see also press release).
According to news reports on May 25, licenses for these sales were granted by the State Department on May 21. Votes are not expected now on the resolutions of disapproval.
On May 25, Senator Ted Cruz introduced a resolution of approval for the sales, with 6 initial co-sponsors (S.Res. 237).
On May 19, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, and Rashida Tlaib announced the introduction of a House resolution opposing the sale (with twelve additional initial co-sponsors), endorsed by dozens of organizations (see H.J.Res 49). On May 20, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the resolution in the Senate (see S.J.Res 19).
On May 17, news broke that the Biden administration had notified Congress of the potential direct commercial sale of $735 million weapons to Israel on May 5 for Joint Direct Attack Munition variants and Small Diameter Bomb Increment I variants for end use by the Ministry of Defense for Israel (license document DDTC 20-084 - not available publicly). In the interim between May 5-17, fighting in Israel had intensified, with a great deal of attention and concerned placed on the actions of Israeli forces.
While for sales to most countries, Congress has 30 days from formal notification to pass joint resolutions of disapproval that bar the President from concluding sales, for NATO member states, NATO, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Israel, and New Zealand that timeline is 15 days. However, at any point until delivery, Congress can pass legislation blocking arms sales. (See CRS resource.)
According to a fact sheet from the Security Assistance Monitor, since fiscal year 2001, Israel has received more than $63 billion in U.S. security assistance, with over 90% funded by the State Department's Foreign Military Financing program. (Note: it does not appear, but is unclear, whether FMF funding is being used in this instance.)
Experts to contact: Josh Ruebner, Elias Yousif, Seth Binder, William Hartung, Jeff Abramson. Additional suggested experts include Hassan El-Tayyab (FCNL).
Select Resources
Government (Biden administration)
Congress
Congressional Research Service
In October 2023, as fighting erupted again, the Biden administration promised to rapidly deliver additional military assistance.
As explained in CRS reports, "In 2016, the U.S. and Israeli governments signed their third 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military aid, covering FY2019 to FY2028. Under the terms of the MOU, the United States pledged to provide—subject to congressional appropriation—$38 billion in military aid ($33 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants plus $5 billion in missile defense appropriations) to Israel."
For separate information on wider military buildup in the Middle East, this Responsible Statecraft resource is recommended.
Select Timeline
2024
On March 11, eight Senators sent a letter to President Biden urging him to enforce federal law (Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act) by requiring Netanyahu’s government to stop restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza or forfeit U.S. military aid to Israel (see press release).
On March 6, the Washington Post reported that only two of 100 separate foreign military sales since October 7 have been public, with the rest falling below Congressional notification thresholds, together "amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid." (See also Wall Street Journal reporting for additional details on arms transfers, including indications that there "are currently 600 active cases of potential military transfer or sales worth more than $23 billion between the U.S. and Israel.")
On March 5, more than three dozen House Democrats send a letter to President Biden saying that "further expansion into Rafah would likely contravene the principles set forth in NSM-20" and that he should ensure all recipients of US aid are held accountable to that memorandum. (See February 8 entry below for a link to NSM-20.)
On March 3, Senator Sanders called on President Biden to invoke Section 620I (620 "eye") of the Foreign Assistance Act, citing in particular “No assistance shall be furnished … to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
On February 23, a number of United Nations Special Rapporteurs and UN experts issued a statement (see press release) called for an end of arms transfers to Israel, saying, “Such transfers are prohibited even if the exporting State does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law – or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way – as long as there is a clear risk.” Four Senators, led by Sen. Van Hollen, asked President Biden to "provide Congress with certain commitments and assurances from the Netanyahu government" before proposing major new arms transfers.
On February 13, the Senate passed a supplemental bill by a vote of 79-20 that would provide $14.1 billion in security assistance to Israel. House passage would still be needed.
On February 8, 2024, President Biden issued NSM-20, "National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services," that while not mentioning Israel directly was widely seen as related to the country via efforts by Senator Van Hollen and others to gain assurances that U.S.-provided weapons were properly used. (See December 7, 2023 entry below.)
On February 7, a hard-negotiated bipartisan supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 815) that included funds for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan as well as border-related measures failed 49-50 to move forward in the Senate. (See reporting.)
On February 6, a House supplemental funding bill focused on Israel failed to garner the two-thirds support to move forward (H.R. 7217).
On January 29, Sen. Warren and Rep. McGovern shared led a bicameral letter signed by nearly 20 members of Congress to Secretary of State Blinken asking about the use of emergency powers to expedite arms sales to Israel, including how State determined an emergency existed, whether its conventional arms transfer policy was applied, and what mitigation measures and conditions were put in place to reduce the risks of civilian harm. Also, reporting by the Trace examined data on handgun exports to Israel, finding that in October and November 2023 " the U.S. exported more than 27,500 handguns to Israel — more than in any full year over the past two decades."
On January 24, sixteen national and international organizations issued a letter calling "on all States to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law."
On January 18, a Guardian article examined whether special mechanisms have been used to shield Israel from US human rights laws.
On January 16, a vote to move S. Res 504 forward failed 72 to 11.
On January 11, 75 organizations released a letter encouraging co-sponsorship S.Res.504 requiring a report on Israel’s human rights practices and U.S. military aid to Israel (see also December 14, below)
On January 9, Sen. Tim Kaine, with a number of co-sponsors, said he plans to file an amendment to maintain the congressional notification requirement for all U.S. assistance to foreign militaries, in particular highlighting Foreign Military Financing for Israel.
2023
On December 29, Congress was notified of a $147.5 million sale declaring an emergency exists to bypass Congressional review period of fuzes for 155 mm artillery ammunition, adding it to a previously implemented FMS (Foreign Military Sales) case that included our thousand seven hundred ninety-two (4,792) rounds of M107 155mm artillery ammunition; fifty-two thousand two hundred twenty-nine (52,229) rounds of M795 155mm artillery ammunition; and thirty thousand (30,000) M4 propelling charges.
Around December 25, Israeli media were reporting that the United States had delivered more than 10,000 tons of military equipment to Israel but had not yet agreed to a request for Apache helicopters.
On December 17, an examination of U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. International Trade Commission data for October (posted in December) by the American Friends Service Committee found that U.S. companies dramatically increased the number of military rifles, handguns, ammunition and guided missile parts exported to Israel in October (see article).
On December 14, Sen. Sanders introduced a resolution under Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act that could, in time, lead to actions to cut off security assistance to Israel - S.Res.504. (See press release, text, as well as 502B explainer from CIVIC.)
On December 13, media reported that the Biden administration was holding up the licenses for more than 20,000 rifles (see also November 4-5 entry, below).
On December 8, Congress was notified of a $106.5 million sale declaring an emergency exists to bypass Congressional review period of nearly 14,000 120mm M830A1 tank cartridges via the Foreign Military Sales process.
On December 7,more than a dozen Senators introduced an amendment to require that the weapons received by any country under the proposed national security supplemental are used in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict. (See related Van Hollen oped.)
On December 5, five Senators sent a letter to President Biden calling for oversight of the use of U.S.-origin weapons by Israel in war against Hamas.
On December 1, fighting resumed after a week-long ceasefire. According to media reports, the United States has delivered roughly 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells since October 7, including 100 BLU-109, 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs.
On November 18, Sen. Sanders called for conditioning aid to Israel.
On November 16, Rep. Ilhan Omar with four co-sponsors introduced a joint resolution of disapproval on the Spice assemblies sale (see press release, tracker).
On November 14, media reported (here or here) that 36,000 rounds of 30mm cannon ammunition, 1,800 of 3,000 requested M141 bunker-buster munitions, at least 3,500 of 5,000 night-vision devices, some Hellfire missiles and other weapons had been delivered from the United States and European Union.
On November 13, more than 30 organizations sent a letter calling for not transferring 155 mm shells to Israel, and media reported that a resolution of disapproval would be introduced on the Spice assemblies sale (see October 30).
On November 8, a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus sent a letter to the President supporting "defensive systems, including Iron Dome and other air defense capabilities" and asking for "specific mechanisms you are putting in place to ensure that Israeli military operations conducted inside Gaza are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law and to ensure that any U.S.-provided equipment is used in a manner consistent with U.S. law."
On November 4 and 5, the Pentagon announced that the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group had arrived in the Middle East (Nov 4) and that an Ohio-class submarine had joined had joined Central Command/Fifth fleet (Nov 5). On the 5th, media outlets reported that Congress was raising concerns about an Israeli request for 24,000 assault rifles (see NYT, for example).
On October 30 (but not widely reported in media until November 6), Congress was notified of a potential $320 million sale of additional Spice Family Gliding Bomb Assemblies -- see notification (obtained via media).
On October 24, the Defense Department announced that F-16s have been sent to the region, building on a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and additional Patriot missile battalions announced over the previous weekend (see official news).
On October 23, a Defense Department official clarified in a background briefing "...what has been provided to Israel through Direct Commercial Sales Contracts. That includes Small Diameter Bombs, ammunition and JDAM Tail Kits. As for 155 ammunition, what had happened prior to the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack, is some 155 had been withdrawn from the war reserve stockpile in Israel, to replenish U.S. stocks in Europe. Much of that has been redirected and provided to the Israel Defense Forces for their use."
On October 20, President Biden requested supplemental funding, including "procurement of Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems and components, and development of Iron Beam" for Israel. See factsheet, as well as letter (particularly Attachment 2-Israel), with media widely reporting as consisting of $14 billion for Israel. The administration also waived Congressional notification requirements regarding Foreign Military Financing.
On October 19, Defense Department confirmed that in addition to Iron Dome, the United States had been providing "precision-guided munitions, such as joint direct attack munitions, small-diameter bombs, 155-millimeter artillery ammunition and other categories of critical equipment." President Biden gave a national address from the Oval office in which he said he would be "asking Congress to do is an unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security that will sharpen Israel’s qualitative military edge, which we’ve committed to..."
On October 14 during a visit to Israel, President Biden said "later this week, I’m going to ask the United States Congress for an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense. We are going to keep Iron Dome fully supplied so it can continue standing sentinel over Israeli skies, saving Israeli lives."
On October 14, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that he had directed the "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to begin moving to the Eastern Mediterranean..." and that "Earlier in the week, the U.S. Air Force announced deployment to the region of squadrons of F-15, F-16 and A-10 fighter aircraft."
On October 13, in prepared remarks in Israel, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, "security assistance from the Department of Defense is already rapidly flowing into Israel. That includes munitions, air-defense capacities, and other key equipment and resources. It also includes more interceptors for Iron Dome...".
October 10, according to media reports, Israel received 1,000 250-pound small diameter bombs that were expedited under a pre-existing contract.
October 8, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the U.S. would move the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean and that "the United States government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions."
October 7, as news of Hamas attacks in Israel and Israeli responses were coming, Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee promised to introduce legislation to provide missile defense and other military support to Israel.
On March 29, U.S. lawmakers Representative Bowman and Senator Sanders issued a statement to Secretary of State Blinken and President Biden, calling for an investigation into if weapons sent to Israel are being used to commit human rights violations against Palestinians. If this were the case, it would be in violation of Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act (see media here).
2022
According to CRS reporting, for FY2023 (Oct 1, 2022 to Sept 30, 2023), "Congress authorized $520 million for joint U.S.-Israel defense programs (including $500 million for missile defense) in the FY2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act. Per the terms of the MOU, Congress appropriated $3.8 billion for Israel (FMF and missile defense) in the FY2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, and added $98.58 million in funding for other cooperative defense and nondefense programs."
In the omnibus appropriations legislation that became law on March 15, 2022, Congress provided $1 billion for Iron Dome supplies to Israel as stipulated in sec. 8142. This is in addition to the $500 million contributed annually for Israel's missile defense, bringing the total to $1.5 billion in 2022 (see media here).
2021
On September 21, 2021, House Democrats, responding to pressure from progressive colleagues, removed a provision from the stopgap government funding bill that would have provided $1 billion in funding to Israel's Iron Dome air defense system. The next day, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee introduced a separate bill (H.R. 5323) to provide the Iron Dome funding, which passed the House in a 420-9 vote on September 23 (see vote). On October 4, Senator Menendez called for unanimous consent to approve funding, to which Sen. Paul objected. (See update, above, from March 2022.)
On July 30, a new notification of a possible $3.4 billion foreign military sale was notified to Congress, including 18 heavy lift helicopters and other equipment.
On July 27, Human Rights Watch issued a report finding that Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups carried out attacks during the May 2021 fighting "that violated the laws of war and apparently amount to war crimes."
On June 8, a diverse group of more than 100 organizations sent a letter to President Biden urging him to halt the sale (see also press release).
According to news reports on May 25, licenses for these sales were granted by the State Department on May 21. Votes are not expected now on the resolutions of disapproval.
On May 25, Senator Ted Cruz introduced a resolution of approval for the sales, with 6 initial co-sponsors (S.Res. 237).
On May 19, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, and Rashida Tlaib announced the introduction of a House resolution opposing the sale (with twelve additional initial co-sponsors), endorsed by dozens of organizations (see H.J.Res 49). On May 20, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the resolution in the Senate (see S.J.Res 19).
On May 17, news broke that the Biden administration had notified Congress of the potential direct commercial sale of $735 million weapons to Israel on May 5 for Joint Direct Attack Munition variants and Small Diameter Bomb Increment I variants for end use by the Ministry of Defense for Israel (license document DDTC 20-084 - not available publicly). In the interim between May 5-17, fighting in Israel had intensified, with a great deal of attention and concerned placed on the actions of Israeli forces.
While for sales to most countries, Congress has 30 days from formal notification to pass joint resolutions of disapproval that bar the President from concluding sales, for NATO member states, NATO, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Israel, and New Zealand that timeline is 15 days. However, at any point until delivery, Congress can pass legislation blocking arms sales. (See CRS resource.)
According to a fact sheet from the Security Assistance Monitor, since fiscal year 2001, Israel has received more than $63 billion in U.S. security assistance, with over 90% funded by the State Department's Foreign Military Financing program. (Note: it does not appear, but is unclear, whether FMF funding is being used in this instance.)
Experts to contact: Josh Ruebner, Elias Yousif, Seth Binder, William Hartung, Jeff Abramson. Additional suggested experts include Hassan El-Tayyab (FCNL).
Select Resources
Government (Biden administration)
- Supplemental funding request - See factsheet, as well as letter (particularly Attachment 2-Israel), October 20, 2023.
- "Statement From Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on U.S. Force Posture Changes in the Middle East," U.S. Department of Defense, October 8, 2023.
- State Department resource page, "Israel Under Attack: Latest Updates"
- "ISRAEL – CH-53K HEAVY LIFT HELICOPTERS WITH SUPPORT," notification to Congress of potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS), $3.4 billion, July 30, 2021.
- Notifications are not made public for Direct Commercial Sales as quickly or as detailed as they are for Foreign Military Sales--the Forum has yet to find an official document detailing the May sale. For more on the differences between Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales, see State Department Factsheet, "U.S. Arms Sales and Defense Trade," January 20, 2021.
Congress
- Chris Van Hollen, "Israel’s war against Hamas is just, but it must be fought justly," Washington Post, December 6, 2023.
- "Chair Cardin Proposes Legislation to Help Israel Defend Itself," press release, October 7, 2023.
- "Sen. Cruz Leads Resolution in Support of Israeli Arms Sales," press release, May 26, 2021.
- "NEWS: Sanders Moves to Block Weapons Sale to Israel," press release, May 20, 2021.
- "Ocasio-Cortez, Pocan & Tlaib Lead Joint Resolution to Block Weapon Sales to Netanyahu," press release, May 19, 2021.
- "Israel: May 2021 Violence, Other Background, and U.S. Relations in Brief," Congressional Research Service, updated May 20, 2021. For more on the Congressional oversight on arms sales, see "Arms Sales: Congressional Review Process," Congressional Research Service, December 10, 2020.
Congressional Research Service
- "U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel," last updated March 1, 2023.
Civil Society
Specific to arms transfers and the conflict that began October 7, 2023
last updated November 7, 2023
Specific to arms transfers and the conflict that began October 7, 2023
- Letter from 16 national and international organizations calling "on all States to immediately halt the transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups..." (January 24, 2024)
- Letter from 75 organizations encouraging co-sponsorship S.Res.504 requiring a report on Israel’s human rights practices and U.S. military aid to Israel (January 11, 2024)
- American Friends Service Committee, "US Gun Exports to Israel Surge," December 17, 2023. See also "U.S. Gun Exports to Israel: Report to Commerce Department" with Gun Free Kitchen Table, January 5, 2024.
- Letter from 30+ organizations calling for not transferring 155 mm shells to Israel (November 13); Oxfam America briefing on 155mm shell transfers (October 30)
- 620I (620 "eye")
- Letter from 25 organizations calling for the President to "urgently comply with U.S. law and end U.S. support for catastrophic human suffering in Gaza. "
- "Fact Sheet: Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act," CIVIC and Oxfam America, March 2024
- Letter from 25 organizations calling for the President to "urgently comply with U.S. law and end U.S. support for catastrophic human suffering in Gaza. "
- Human Rights Watch - call for arms suspension to Israel and Palestine (November 6), starvation as weapon of war (December 18)
- Amnesty International - report including use of small-diameter bombs (February 12, 2024), report on use of U.S.-made munitions (December 5), Amnesty USA resource page
- Saferworld - call for halt to arms sales (December 5)
- Letter from 14 organizations that includes call for withholding U.S. assistance that would facilitate violations of international humanitarian law (December 20)
- John Ramming Chappell, Annie Shiel, Seth Binder, Elias Yousif, Bill Monahan and Amanda Klasing, "Law and Policy Guide to US Arms Transfers to Israel," Just Security, November 8, 2023.
- Josh Paul, "Security Assistance and Arms Transfers: Human Rights Frameworks and Recommendations for Strengthening," Institute for Middle East Understanding, November 10, 2023.
- Elias Yousif, "A Primer on the Emergency Declaration for Arms Transfers to Israel," Stimson Center, January 9, 2024.
- Brian Finucane, "Is Washington Responsible for What Israel Does With American Weapons?" Foreign Affairs, November 17, 2023.
- Sarah Yager, "How to End America’s Hypocrisy on Gaza," Foreign Affairs, February 12, 2024.
- Allison McManus, Laura Kilbury, Robert Benson, "Emergency Arms Sale to Israel Undermines Accountability," Center for American Policy, December 14, 2023.
- Center for International Policy - assessment of aid package (Oct 31); five recommendations (October 29)
- American Friends Service Committee - The Companies Behind Israel’s 2023 Attack on Gaza (first published Nov 30)
- Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN) - call to monitor and restrict use of U.S. weapons (October 15) expert panel on genocide (January 9)
- Elias Yousif and Rachel Stohl, "In Shadow of War, a Snapshot of U.S. Military Assistance to Israel," Stimson Center, October 13, 2023.
- "Why it’s time for the US Army to divest Iron Dome," Breaking Defense, March 27, 2023.
- Jacob Batinga, "Should Biden's new arms transfer policy apply to Israel?", Responsible Statecraft, March 8, 2023.
- Project on Middle East Democracy, "Israel & Palestine" resource page.
- "Explainer: The Controversy Over Increased Funding for Iron Dome," Institute for Middle East Understanding, September 22, 2021
- "Gaza: Apparent War Crimes During May Fighting," Human Rights Watch, July 27, 2021.
- "National Coalition Calls on Biden to Halt Weapons Sales to Israel" - letter from more than 100 organizations - June 8, 2021
- Elias Yousif, "Factsheet: US Arms Sales and Security Assistance to Israel," Security Assistance Monitor, May 12, 2021.
- William Hartung and Salih Booker, "Israel’s Military, Made in the USA," the Nation, May 21, 2021
- Josh Ruebner, Salih Booker, Zaha Hassan, "Bringing Assistance to Israel in Line With Rights and U.S. Laws," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 12, 2021.
- Organizational statements (select- generally from organizations with Forum-listed experts)
- Amnesty USA (May 17, 2021)
- Oxfam America (May 18, 2021)
- DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) (May 25, 2021)
last updated November 7, 2023
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Forum on the Arms Trade-listed experts* provided the following public comments on this topic. Please contact experts directly for further comments:
May 20, 2021: The Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders joint resolution of disapproval of $735 million in joint direct attack munitions (JDAM's) for Israel is historic and hugely significant. Israel is the largest recipient of US taxpayer funded weapons, and this legislation marks the first time ever that lawmakers have publicly attempted to stop the flow of weapons to Israel, weapons which make the US complicit in Israeli settler-colonial, apartheid oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel is currently utilizing JDAM's in its horrific assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. This joint resolution is the first step toward holding Israel accountable for its war crimes. |
* Inclusion on the Forum on the Arms Trade expert list does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others. Institutional affiliation is indicated for identification purposes only. Please contact experts directly for further comments.