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Israel is privately ramping up pressure on the Biden administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to greenlight weapons it says it needs to protect itself from an increasingly aggressive Iran and its proxies.
The delegation traveling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington this week is circulating a list among lawmakers and senior officials that lays out weapons systems it wants fast-tracked. Israeli representatives passed the list to members of Congress Wednesday following Netanyahu’s speech, according to a person familiar with the list who said Jerusalem needs the weapons to bolster its stockpiles.
The fact that Israel is pushing for the weapons now indicates that it is attempting to solidify the transfers and bolster its stockpiles before the U.S. election in November. It’s unclear how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump would handle such requests if elected. But Israel is motivated to seek immediate approval from the current administration, which has consistently supported its military goals against both Hamas and Hezbollah.
The list, according to the person familiar, is not related to the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration held up in May over concerns they would be used on civilians in the Gaza city of Rafah. The list instead focuses on other systems.
In an interview on Thursday, House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) confirmed that Israel was trying to gain support for the transfers this week, saying they include weapons systems the administration asked lawmakers to approve two months ago. Both he and the person who described the list to POLITICO declined to name the systems.
The heads of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees have given informal approval for the transfers, McCaul said, but the administration has not asked Congress for its formal sign-off.
“The four corners have all signed off on these seven weapons systems, and then after that our experience is with Israel, particularly in an emergency, we would have a formal notification where we sign it, and then the weapons are good to go,” McCaul said. “That hasn’t happened, and it typically would be a matter of days, and now it’s been two months, so it’s obvious they’re withholding them.”
Netanyahu, who has accused the Biden administration of slow-rolling arms transfers, nodded to that issue in his speech.
“Give us the tools faster and we’ll finish the job faster,” Netanyahu said. “Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and its role in Gaza and bring all our hostages home. That’s what total victory means. And we will settle for nothing less.”
The administration, which has acknowledged withholding the 2,000-pound bombs over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza, is denying that it is delaying other weapons.
“There is no policy guidance to slow down transfers to Israel,” said a State Department official, who was granted anonymity to speak on sensitive internal matters. “We are looking tactically at the timing. It is not a question of whether, it is a question of when.”
Israel’s request comes during a chaotic time in U.S. politics as President Joe Biden crafts his goals for the final months of his tenure and Harris ramps up her campaign. The Biden administration has come under increasing fire for continuing to approve the transfer of weapons despite the growing death toll in Gaza.
McCaul said Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a close associate of Netanyahu, discussed the weapons with him during the prime minister’s visit on Wednesday. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant previously raised the group of weapons with McCaul to press for their transfer.
McCaul said he believes the administration is holding up the sales to pressure Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire, but he also floated the possibility the administration will advance the transfers while Congress is in recess so that lawmakers who oppose the deals cannot attempt to block them.
“I think the reason why is two-fold,” McCaul said. “One, I think it gives them leverage over Israel with these cease-fire negotiations, but I also think they’re very smart by waiting until we are out of session because then they won’t have any problems with a joint resolution of disapproval that any member [of Congress] can throw down.”
McCaul said he won’t provide the specific systems over security concerns.
“The Israelis are sensitive about it because it would reveal their battlefield plans,” he said. “If you reveal what they need, it reveals what they’re going to do from a battlefield standpoint.”
The person familiar with the list said the systems are needed now because Israel’s stockpiles have been diminished in recent months and Israel is concerned about the possibility of a more direct confrontation with Hezbollah on its northern border.
The list’s circulation comes as Netanyahu meets with Biden, Harris, Trump and other national security officials this week to discuss finalizing a cease-fire deal for Gaza. Although the list is not formally a part of the cease-fire talks, Israel’s request for additional weapons transfers has previously complicated those discussions.
Still, U.S. officials have said in recent weeks they are more confident than ever that an agreement is close to being finalized.
