Congress bypasses Biden administration on Israeli weapons sales

Congress bypasses Biden administration on Israeli weapons sales. In spite of growing international condemnation, the administration of United States President Joe Biden bypassed Congress once again to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel, which has intensified and broadened its attacks against the Gaza Strip in the midst of increased international criticism.

There has been an emergency declaration by the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which was released by the State Department on Friday, for a sale of equipment to Israel worth $147.5 million. This is the second emergency determination that has been made by him in less than a month.

According to the report, the secretary of state informed Congress that, given the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs, he had exercised his delegated authority and determined that an emergency existed that required the transfer to be approved immediately.

It is in the US national interest to ensure that Israel can defend itself against the threats it faces, and there is no doubt that the United States is committed to maintaining the security of Israel.”

In addition to the 155mm shells that Israel had previously purchased, the package also includes ancillary items, such as fuses, loads and primers which would be required for them to function properly.

This emergency declaration, which is relatively rare but has been utilized by at least four previous US administrations, will result in the bypassing of a possibly lengthy congressional review process for foreign military sales in the near future.

Who was reporting from Washington, DC, stressed the importance of bringing the message into a broader context in her report.

All top Biden administration officials have been insisting for weeks now, that the time has come for Israel to move from its current high-intensity conflict to a lower-intensity one. There is only one thing to do, and that is to stop the mass bombings. In her address, she urged the government to put an end to mass civilian deaths.

So, with this in mind – and knowing that the Israelis intend to use such weapons as a means of pursuing a high-intensity campaign – the U.S. is now selling to Israel the exaction munitions they will require to continue such a campaign.

It’s a moral scandal without a doubt

Culhane noted that Israel also intends to purchase 155mm M107 artillery shells, which are designed to cause widespread destruction in densely populated areas like Gaza, in addition to 155mm M107 projectiles.

It is not clear yet how many shells are to be included in this $147.5m package because the company didn’t say exactly how many. In previous packages, however, there has been a direct link between this and the fact that thousands of bombs will be going to Israel.”

As Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara points out, it is “strategically self-defeating” for Washington to ensure Israel continues its intense phase of fighting while also encouraging it to reduce the intensity of combat. The decision was regarded as “astonishing” by Bishara, who called Friday’s decision “strategically self-defeating”.

“One has to really examine closely whether there are any meaningful explanations for the Biden administration’s desire to bypass Congress in order to expedite weapons to a country that is committing war crimes with impunity,” he said in an interview on Saturday.

As a result of the war killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and causing record damage, Bishara described the move as “morally scandalous,” as well as “politically suspect” since it undermines the Congress twice in the same month given that a record damage was caused and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians were killed. I don’t understand why it’s so urgent to ignore your own guidelines. What is the urgency? ”

A second emergency decision was made on December 9 by the Biden administration to ratify the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition, valued at more than $106 million, which was approved as part of the emergency determination.

An American official who is close to Hamas, Basem Naim, criticized the US’ role in the war during which he said that while these crimes were committed by Israeli forces, they were backed up and sponsored by the US government as well.”

The group added in a televised statement on Saturday that this is a response to the Biden administration serving as a “direct sponsor and orchestrator of this ongoing genocide against our people,” and that they “should be held responsible”.

Devastation on a record scale

In addition, the move to accelerate the procurement of more weapons arrives just a week after Vice President Biden’s request for an incredible $106 billion package that would include aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other perceived national security needs has yet to be passed by Congress, as it is entangled in a longstanding debate over US immigration and border security.

By stating that it will continuously maintain contact with Israel in order to stress the importance of minimising civilian casualties despite the mounting death toll in Gaza and continued US arms sales to Israel, the Biden administration has been able to counter criticism over the mounting death toll in Gaza and continued US arms sales to Israel.

There is, however, Luciana Zaccara, a lecturer at Qatar University who specializes in Gulf politics, who told Al Jazeera that Qatar was taking a “dual-track” approach when it comes to the war.

According to him, one of the things the US is trying to do is to convince the public that the US is serious about preventing civilian casualties, yet on the other hand, they are still supporting Israel (militarily),” he continued. “It is totally contradictory… it is hard for me to understand how this can possibly be in the national interest.” he declared.

It is particularly ironic that such a policy is being implemented at a time when “mounting pressure” is being placed against the war in the US, including among the Democratic Party, as civilian casualties in Gaza continue to climb, Zaccara said.

It was reported on Saturday by The Wall Street Journal that the war is generating destruction that is comparable to that which has been produced by the most destructive warfare in the world since modern times.

There have been nearly 70 percent of homes destroyed or badly damaged in Gaza as a result of Israeli bombings since mid-December, according to the report.

A number of Republican lawmakers have suggested that any further significant aid to Israel should be contingent on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government making concrete promises to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza, a proposal that has been raised by Democratic lawmakers.

The number of Palestinians that have been murdered in the besieged enclave since October 7 has risen to over 21,000, most of whom are children and women. This is widely viewed as collective punishment by the Palestinian Authority. The number of people who are missing is thought to be in the thousands.

There has been no change in the way the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is accessed, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency. In spite of aid arriving from Egypt and through the Rafah crossing, Israel continues to impose “severe restrictions” on humanitarian access.

Moreover, he said that they have created a stream of misinformation that they are using to accuse aid agencies of delivering aid in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reminded everyone that if the conflict does not cease immediately, it may spread to other regions of the region.