The White House has reportedly waived Congressional review requirements to supply Israel with nearly 14,000 tank rounds amid growing concerns over Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved the sale of 120mm M830A1 tank cartridges and related equipment for an estimated cost of $106.5 million in response to Israel's request, as per the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency's December 9 declaration.
"The Secretary of State determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and services in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended," the document says.
The declaration underlined that the weapons in question "will not alter the basic military balance in the region" and, while coming from the US Army inventory, "will have no adverse impact on US defense readiness."
The move came amid a stalemate in Congress over Washington's military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. GOP lawmakers are blocking Biden's attempts to ram a $110 billion deal through the body, demanding sweeping reforms of the Mexican border to be included in the measure. Some of their Democratic counterparts are likewise concerned about mounting casualties in Gaza, sounding calls to condition the Israeli funds on a scaling down of Tel Aviv's military operation in the strip.
What's more, Team Biden does not follow its own rules for arming foreign nations, per the Washington Post. Under these guidelines weapons should not be delivered to a nation if there are suspicions that violations of international law, "including attacks intentionally directed against civilian objects," are "more likely than not" to occur.
Biden administration officials claim that it's too early to judge whether or not Israel's methods comply with the laws of war.
"This is an extremely challenging space where there is fog of war," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in charge of arms transfers Mira Resnick told the media. "We don’t have information that would indicate that we have crossed that more-likely-than-not threshold."
However, five Democratic senators have recently sent a letter to Biden arguing that the "risk of violating international law and our own standards increases as Israel uses explosive weapons in densely populated areas."
The issue has come to the fore after Israel resumed its operation in Gaza on December 1 after a week-long truce. Tel Aviv declared war on Hamas, an Islamist group controlling Gaza, in October in the wake of a bombing spree and assault on Israeli civilians from the strip that claimed the lives of over 1,300 people. Presently, the deal toll in Gaza is nearing 18,000, as per the Palestinian Health Ministry.
A rift is growing within the Democratic camp with the Progressive Caucus openly raising the alarm over Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Over a dozen Democratic senators have proposed an amendment to the US president's $110 billion package which would oblige Israel to "abide by US and international law, prioritize the protection of civilians, assure the provision of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, and align with a long-term vision for peace, security, and two-state diplomatic solution."
Democrats argue that the US government should comply with its own rules and international laws, citing the fact that previously the Reagan administration axed arms deliveries to Tel Aviv over concerns about cluster munitions use in Lebanon.
However, it appears that Team Biden has already opened this Pandora's box by providing cluster munitions to the Ukrainian government regardless of the fact that Kiev has a long record of using these weapons against peaceful civilians of Donbass. It begs the question why Democratic senators remained mute for the past 22 months and raised the alarm with Team Biden's militarization spree only now.