Biden administration bypasses Congress to supply tank shells to Israel

Emergency sale comes as debate continues on Capitol Hill over rules for aid to Israel

The US State Department last week used national emergency authority to bypass Congress and authorise the sale of arms to Israel as its intense siege of Gaza moves into the region’s south.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified lawmakers of the sale on Friday, according to a news release; the sale totals just under 14,000 tank shells and is valued at $106.5m.

The sale comes as Israel’s military continues to push through southern Gaza with the declared aim of killing or capturing Hamas’s military and political leadership. Israeli forces have said that the siege will continue until Hamas’s ability to both operate militarily as well as hold political power is ended entirely.

Meanwhile, Gaza has become the site of a staggering humanitarian crisis. More than 17,700 people. including thousands of children. are estimated to have been killed by local authorities, while famine, disease and death spread across the territory. Scenes of horror and carnage play out in front of cameras and spread across social media.

On Capitol Hill, progressives are beginning to make their voices heard on the issue. In the Senate, more than a dozen members, including Bernie Sanders and Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen, are pushing against unfettered military aid to Israel, a move that threatens the already-weakening position of Israel’s staunch allies in the GOP and among conservative Democrats.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers are working to pass larger aid packages for Israel and Ukraine; Republicans, however, are refusing to vote for any aid packages to either country without Democrats agreeing to a set of political concessions on the issue of US-Mexico border security. Those negotiations continue but in recent days have taken a turn for the worse as some Democrats involved in the talks have described GOP demands as non-starters.

In the House, the razor-thin majority held by Republicans is about to become even smaller, due to the resignation of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. This will likely further embolden a faction of conservative Republicans who have been their party’s greatest skeptics on the issues of Ukraine and foreign aid in general.

Congress typically has the authority to pass legislation blocking weapons sales initiated by the executive branch, which go through a review period. The sale of weapons under emergency authority gives the legislative branch no such review period.

As humanitarian concerns grow in the Gaza Strip, US lawmakers are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with providing what they are calling a “blank check” to a longtime US ally.

“When it comes to U.S. military aid to Israel, American support cannot be a blank check to a right-wing Netanyahu government that has demonstrated a gross disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians,” liberal Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Thursday. “U.S. military aid always includes conditions, and there is no exception, even for our allies.”