The US is reported to have made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the start of the war in Gaza, but the deliveries escaped congressional oversight because each transaction was under the dollar amount requiring approval.
“This doesn’t just seem like an attempt to avoid technical compliance with US arms export law, it’s an extremely troubling way to avoid transparency and accountability on a high-profile issue,” Ari Tolany, director of the security assistance monitor at the Centre for International Policy thinktank, said.
She added that, in exploiting the loophole, the Biden administration was following the steps of its predecessor. “They’re very much borrowing from the Trump playbook to dodge congressional oversight,” Tolany said.
In defending its continued arms sales to Israel, despite ever more public misgivings about its conduct of the Gaza war, the administration has argued that they are part of the US’s basic commitment to Israel’s self defence.
I know it seems like a long time to a lot of you, but this is not a four-month war tolerated by Biden. This is a 70-year long genocide supported by every us president since Israel was founded.
Waiting four months for Biden to tell netanyahu Biden does not support an extended war and explicitly state that the US and the Biden administration support a two-state solution is a rapid policy reversal in the context of these atrocities happening for 800 months without any public protest until a few months ago.