US readies new $1bn arms sale to Israel ahead of Netanyahu talks with Trump

The Trump administration asked Congress to approve the arms sale ahead of a White House meeting with the Israeli PM, amid efforts to preserve a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

The Trump administration has asked congressional leaders to approve new transfers of roughly US$1 billion worth of bombs and other military hardware to Israel at a time when the White House is working to preserve a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, according to US officials familiar with the sale.

The planned weapons sales include 4,700 1,000-pound bombs, worth more than $700 million, as well as armoured bulldozers built by Caterpillar, worth more than $300 million, the officials said.

The new arms requests, which would be paid for from the billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to Israel, come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington and set to meet President Trump on Tuesday to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza, a separate truce in Lebanon, and tensions in the wider Middle East.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are expected to press Trump to move forward with a separate set of arms transfers that were initially requested by the Biden administration, totalling more than $8 billion in new bombs, missiles and artillery rounds.

The Biden administration notified key congressional leaders about that sale in January before it left office. The weapons haven’t yet received full approval because of a hold by some Democratic lawmakers, a congressional official said.

The aid will include armoured bulldozers built by Caterpillar, worth more than US$300m. Picture: AFP.

The new proposed weapons deals come at a pivotal moment in the U.S.-Israeli relationship. In addition to the Gaza ceasefire, Israel is also engaged in an uneasy truce with Hezbollah in Lebanon. In late January Trump backed Israel’s decision to keep some military forces stationed in southern Lebanon while the ceasefire deal was being implemented.

The State Department notifies Congress when the U.S. plans to sell weapons above specific dollar thresholds. The department provides information to the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees ahead of those potential sales, followed by the formal congressional notification. The committee must approve the sales.

Some leading Democrats and others in Congress had urged the Biden administration to curb the billions’ worth of weapons sales to Israel to reduce civilian deaths in Gaza. According to Palestinian authorities, more than 46,600 Gazans have been killed since the war began. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another roughly 250 other hostages.

In the run-up to Israel’s spring operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, the U.S. suspended one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs. The Trump administration lifted that suspension last week and signalled he wouldn’t withhold future weapons shipments to Israel. Speaking aboard Air Force One last week about that decision, Trump said he released the bombs because “they paid for them and they have been waiting for them for a long time.” Netanyahu later thanked Trump in a video message released by his office. “Thank you President Trump for keeping your promise to give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself, to confront our common enemies and to secure a future of peace and prosperity.” The 1,000-pound bombs the administration is proposing to send as part of the latest sale consist of 4,500 BLU-110s and 200 Mk-83s, which the Pentagon refers to as “general purpose bombs.” Caterpillar’s D9 armoured bulldozers could face scrutiny from progressives in Congress because of Israel’s past use of them to demolish Palestinian homes.

Dow Jones