LEE KRAMER'S ROOM: With Views

[jbsliverer]

Strange the way arms always flow one way or another.

Biden administration sidesteps Congress again for emergency arms sale to Israel
The equipment is valued at about $147.5 million and comes as Israel faces increased scrutiny over the rising number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-administration-sidesteps-congress-arms-sale-israel-rcna131661

Dec. 29, 2023, 8:55 PM MST
By Abigail Williams and Megan Lebowitz

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has bypassed Congress for the second time this month to provide an emergency arms sale to Israel amid its war with Hamas.

“Given the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs, the secretary notified Congress that he had exercised his delegated authority to determine an emergency existed necessitating the immediate approval of the transfer,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against the threats it faces. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the spokesperson added......

There's a connection between why Putin with the help of Iran and the bleeding off the supply to Ukraine.

Pentagon Sends U.S. Arms Stored in Israel to Ukraine
Israeli officials had initially expressed concerns that the move could damage its relations with Russia.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/us/politics/ukraine-israel-weapons.html

By Eric Schmitt, Adam Entous, Ronen Bergman, John Ismay and Thomas Gibbons-Neff
Jan. 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is tapping into a vast but little-known stockpile of American ammunition in Israel to help meet Ukraine’s dire need for artillery shells in the war with Russia, American and Israeli officials say.

The stockpile provides arms and ammunition for the Pentagon to use in Middle East conflicts. The United States has also allowed Israel to access the supplies in emergencies.....

U.S. WEAPONS TRANSFERS TO ISRAEL SHROUDED IN SECRECY — BUT NOT UKRAINE
The Biden administration put out a three-page list of arms for Ukraine, but information on weapons sent to Israel could fit in one sentence.
https://theintercept.com/2023/11/07/israel-us-weapons-secret/

Ken Klippenstein
November 7 2023, 4:22 p.m.

ONE MONTH SINCE Hamas’s surprise attack, little is known about the weapons the U.S. has provided to Israel. Whereas the Biden administration released a three-page itemized list of weapons provided to Ukraine, down to the exact number of rounds, the information released about weapons sent to Israel could fit in a single sentence.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged the secrecy in an October 23 press briefing, saying that while U.S. security assistance flows to Israel “on a near-daily basis,” he continued, “We’re being careful not to quantify or get into too much detail about what they’re getting — for their own operational security purposes, of course.”

“The notion that it would in any way harm the Israeli military’s operational security to provide more information is a cover story.”
The argument that transparency would imperil Israel’s operational security — somehow not a concern with Ukraine — is misleading, experts told The Intercept.....

US has been and is a major supplier of military weapons to Israel at a very profitable arrangement.

Israel ranked world’s 10th-largest weapons exporter in past five years
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-ranked-worlds-10th-largest-weapons-exporter-in-past-five-years/



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