House Foreign Affairs Committee calls for WH to expedite arms sale to Israel

Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul signed off on "all major weapons sales" in a letter to President Biden on Friday, noting concern about the administration's "unacceptable" delays of weapons shipments to Israel. 

McCaul's committee has "jurisdiction over global arms sales policy," he said. 

"While the administration has recently moved some previously delayed major weapons packages to Israel, you are now delaying other vitally important arms exports, including 2,000-pound bombs held since the spring," McCaul wrote. 

McCaul said these weapons are part of a package he personally signed off on and were paid for with congressionally appropriated funds. The Administration had halted this shipment due to concerns over an Israeli operation in Rafah; while the Rafah operation has concluded, the shipment is still blocked, the letter said. 

"Israel continues to face unprecedented threats from Iran and its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has fired at Israel almost daily since October 8, causing civilian casualties and displacing over 60,000 Israeli civilians," McCaul wrote. "Last week, Israel used a number of 2,000-pound bomb variants to successfully eliminate arch-terrorist and mass murderer Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders."

Everything is not 'moving in due course'

McCaul said he was also aware of more than 10 other weapons cases purchased via Direct Commercial Sale  that have experienced "unusual, unexplained delays."

He said under National Security Presidential Directive-56, the Department of State was directed to complete the review and adjudication of license applications within 60 days of receipt. 

"However, these cases have been awaiting final approval for an average of over four months. It is clearly not the case that 'everything else is moving in due course,' as unnamed State Department officials have claimed," he said. 

The administration has consistently said its support for Israel is “ironclad," McCaul wrote, and we must fulfill this commitment both to protect Israel’s security and to demonstrate "our credibility as a reliable defense partner."

"Returning to normal processing and delivery timelines with respect to arms sales is urgently needed to compete against Russia and China," he said in the letter. "I urge you to act today to ensure all weapons shipments to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs, are expedited to support our ally."

The Jerusalem Post reached out to the State Department on Sept. 26 following accusations from Sens. McConnell and Cotton that the administration was withholding critical weapons from Israel in addition to the 2,000-lb bombs.

A State Department spokesperson told The Post that the US has surged "billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel since the October 7 attacks," and passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistance to Israel, led an unprecedented coalition to defend Israel against Iranian attacks and will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself from the threats it faces.

"We continue to convey concerns to the Israeli government about the use and impact of large air-to-ground munitions in dense urban settings," the spokesperson said. "Other than a single shipment of such munitions, nothing else is paused. Everything else is being reviewed and moving through the standard process."