State Dept. Tells Congress It Plans to Send $8 Billion in Arms to Israel

The State Department has told Congress that it intends to approve $8 billion in purchases of U.S.-made arms by Israel, the department’s office in charge of arms transfers said on Friday.

It could be the final set of arms transfers to Israel by President Biden, and represents a marker of continued support from the administration to a longtime ally even as the rising death toll in Israel’s war in Gaza has fueled growing opposition within his party to further weapons sales.

The weapons package includes artillery shells, small-diameter bombs, missiles for fighter jets and helicopters, and GPS guidance systems for bombs, according to the informal notification provided to two committees of Congress. Many of the weapons are not for immediate use but instead would go into a manufacturing pipeline, with delivery possibly taking years.

Israel would use money provided by the United States to buy the weapons. The annual aid had been about $3 billion, but Mr. Biden increased that amount after Israel began waging war in Gaza following terrorist attacks by Hamas that left about 1,200 dead on Oct. 7, 2023.

During the informal notification period, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee are expected to review the proposed sales and ask questions of the State Department. They can hold up the transfers if they have doubts. The top Democrats on both committees have been more skeptical of arms transfers to Israel, while the top Republicans have quickly granted approval.

Once the four top members grant approval to the State Department, the agency would give formal notification to Congress, which essentially means the proposed sales will go through. Congress would need a two-thirds vote in each house to pass a resolution blocking the sales.