The decision on the funds came months after they were allocated by the US Congress, as tensions between Israel and Iran continued.
According to a source, the US State Department informed lawmakers on Thursday evening that the Joe Biden administration intends to release billions of dollars in foreign military financing to Israel.
The money comes from the $14.1 billion supplemental funding bill that Congress passed in April.
Israel can use the money to purchase advanced weapons systems and other equipment from the United States through the Foreign Military Financing program.
“It is not unusual for it to take time for funds from these packages to be released, but the funding came out this week as Israel and the region brace for a possible attack by Iran and Lebanese factions following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fouad Shukr in Beirut earlier this month,” sources told CNN.
Israel will not receive the $3.5 billion in American-made weapons immediately; instead, the funding is earmarked so that Israel can purchase systems that are being manufactured now and likely will not be delivered for several years, according to CNN.
The network said, “The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) can draw from its own stockpiles to send them directly to Israel, according to a rapid timetable.”
Fears are growing that the conflict in the Middle East will expand after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in an operation attributed to Israel, and the assassination of leader Fouad Shukr in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, amidst threats of retaliation.
Source: CNN
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2024-08-11 12:59:30
