US OKs $106M emergency tank ammunition sale to Israel

The Biden administration approved an “emergency sale” Saturday to send nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition to Israel as it ramps up its invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The State Department approved the massive offloading — worth more than $106 million — in a move that allowed it to circumvent Congress.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the department said in a statement.

“Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense,” it added.

For the price of $106.5 million, Israel will receive 13,981 120 mm High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer tank cartridges as well as US support, engineering and logistics, all of which will come from Army inventory.

Congress was notified of the sale late Friday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined an “emergency exists” in the Middle Eastern war that would affect US national security interests.

The urgency allowed Biden officials to sell the weaponry without the standard congressional review required for foreign military sales.

Although unusual, the emergency sale is not unprecedented. In 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo similarly sold $8.1 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after it became clear that the Trump administration would have trouble overcoming lawmakers’ concerns about the Saudi- UAE-led war in Yemen.

The sale comes days after the Biden administration pleaded for Congress to approve a nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs.

A hefty portion of the funding would go toward military and economic assistance in Ukraine, saying Kyiv’s war effort to defend itself from Russia’s invasion may grind to a halt without it.

The administration has faced a difficult reception on Capitol Hill, where there is growing skepticism about the magnitude of assistance for Ukraine and where even Republicans supportive of the funding are insisting on US-Mexico border policy changes to halt the flow of migrants as a condition for the assistance.

The GOP-controlled House has passed a $14.3 billion standalone assistance package for Israel.

More than 1,200 Israelis were killed when Hamas launched its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, and 97 Israel Defense Force soldiers have been killed in the fighting since.

With the war entering its third month, the death toll in Gaza stands at more than 17,400, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.

With Post wires