The US is reported to have made more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the start of the war in Gaza, but the deliveries escaped congressional oversight because each transaction was under the dollar amount requiring approval.

“This doesn’t just seem like an attempt to avoid technical compliance with US arms export law, it’s an extremely troubling way to avoid transparency and accountability on a high-profile issue,” Ari Tolany, director of the security assistance monitor at the Centre for International Policy thinktank, said.

She added that, in exploiting the loophole, the Biden administration was following the steps of its predecessor. “They’re very much borrowing from the Trump playbook to dodge congressional oversight,” Tolany said.

In defending its continued arms sales to Israel, despite ever more public misgivings about its conduct of the Gaza war, the administration has argued that they are part of the US’s basic commitment to Israel’s self defence.

  • Keeponstalin@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Yet they just vetoed another ceasefire in the UN out of support for Israel. On top of selling more weapons to Israel. The US is supporting this genocide both militarily with weapon sales and internationally with Veto power in the UN.

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      I know it seems like a long time to a lot of you, but this is not a four-month war tolerated by Biden. This is a 70-year long genocide supported by every us president since Israel was founded.

      Waiting four months for Biden to tell netanyahu Biden does not support an extended war and explicitly state that the US and the Biden administration support a two-state solution is a rapid policy reversal in the context of these atrocities happening for 800 months without any public protest until a few months ago.

      • Keeponstalin@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        US became the Major Supporter for Israel around 1967 when Israel launched the 1967 war to occupy the West Bank and Gaza. The Two-State Solution has had US support for a long time, and has been wielded by Israel to continue de facto annexing/settling of the West Bank and maintain an Apartheid State under the guise of Security. As a result, a Two-State Solution is no longer viable as it has been a One-State reality for decades.

        • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          Your tone is aggressively confrontational, but you’re agreeing with what I explained to you in the previous comment.

          Thanks.

          • Keeponstalin@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I disagree with your idea of rapid policy reversal or that Biden has changed his support (anymore than empty rhetoric), but for the most part we agree. I didn’t intend any confrontational tone, but I like providing sources to help spread awareness

            • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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              8 months ago

              Sources are important, as is context.

              Two forms of contexts are important here: 1) rational historical context and 2) influential and active diplomatic context

              1)Withholding weapons from one of the longest active allies of the US is an unreasonable expectation in such a short time frame immediately following such a complex terrorist attack and more than half a century of active mutual defense between the US and Israel.

              The short time frame is especially important here as a ties into context two, as the US is an indirect party to this conflict and has to ascertain and verify intelligence before making any sort of major policy decision.

              1. Salient to popular concern, right now there is a dictator in power in Israel, netanyahu, who has been very clear that he opposes any sort of Palestinian state, and believes all land in Gaza and the West Bank belong to Israel.

              He’s practically proven over 16 years that he has no problem with Palestinian colonization, invasion and executions by the IDF, and now with Oct. 7th has a huge excuse that for at least a month was globally and popularly supported.

              The defence ministry of Israel stated that Palestinians are animals and Israel is behaving accordingly.

              Israel is a militarized state with mandatory military service and the Israeli civilian population widely abohors Palestinians as much as the government and military do.

              So you have an executive branch, the military, and most of the general population with more than enough weapons from dozens of countries willing to kill literally every palestinian from dozens of countries constantly flowing in and a legacy of global popular support, being directed by a dictator to respond violently to an admittedly horrific terrorist attack.

              How can you stop them?

              You want Biden and the US, who is not a direct party to this conflict, to immediately break off the 70-year alliance and stop sending them weapons?

              Israel has plenty of other weapons and plenty of other countries supplying weapons.

              The us cutting funding and weapons won’t stop Israel pursuing this genocide, but it will remove any American influence in Israeli policy and severely damage America’s practical policy-making diplomatic influence and reputation.

              Now think about the steps that have been taken so far.

              For a month following the oct. 7 attack, the entire world acted as they have always done, saying they stand with Israel and darn those evil hamas terrorists.

              Then it’s repeatedly irrefutably proven and documented in real time that Israel is lying about many military justifications, is severely prejudiced against Palestinians and is continuing a 70 year long policy of illegal colonization and genocide.

              Second month occurs, Biden says that they still stand with Palestine, but the rhetoric is obviously chilled.

              January comes up, netanyahu says that they’re going to completely demilitarize Palestine and Palestinians will not ever have a country, shows everybody a map without Palestine on it at all.

              Biden says the US supports a two-state solution.

              Netanyahu says that this war will continue for years, biden tells him that the US won’t support an extended war.

              We come to February, last month, the Biden administration sends aid be given to Gaza despite Israel’s insistence that no aid be given, and asks the pentagon to come up with land, sea and air aid packages for Palestine.

              Biden holds talks with a political opponent of netanyahu, Benny gantz.

              Israeli settlers make a new push to illegally colonized Palestinian land, so Biden enacts specific sanctions against those settlerd, financially and travel based.

              Then, all of a sudden after these measures that contradict and directly circumvent netanyahu by supporting and even dropping aid directly to Palestinians, israel is suddenly ready for a ceasefire.

              If the biden administration was as inactive as people who don’t care about the full story assume, that ceasefire deal would not have been possible.

              There’s no practical reason for them to stop. They have enough weapons and technology and funding to, as trump encouraged them to do “finish the problem”.

              But Biden made sure of the facts, then progressively contradicted specific stated policies of netanyahu, enactrf sanctions against Israeli settlers, held talks with a political rival of netanyahu, then directly supported Palestinians by providing aid.

              These are clear escalating steps in diplomatically convincing Israel to stand down that retain American international influence, and Israel has already agreed to a ceasefire.

              Israel was pressured with multiple actions, not empty rhetoric, and that pressure worked and is still working.

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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        8 months ago

        No multiple US presidents shut down israel’s Genocides when they became too extreme. Even Rebublicans like Bush

        Namely, the high civilian death toll of the Israeli bombing campaign ― conducted in response to a barrage of rockets fired indiscriminately into Israel ― has breathed new life into calls for a reassessment of the United States’ financial and diplomatic support for Israel. Proponents of imposing tougher conditions on the United States’ annual $3.8 billion military aid package to Israel are now concentrated mostly on the political left. But the most recent U.S. president to actually use the threat of withheld aid to change Israeli policy was Republican George H.W. Bush.

        And that was with a far lower amount of civilians being brutally massacared by israel. What Netanyahu is doing right now is the most extreme Genocide in Palestinian history since at least 1900.

        And Biden is secretly giving Netanyahu more weapons instead of putting pressure on them.

        • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          In small skirmishes rather than what can be called a war, decades ago when the worried was fort years younger.

          Context.

          Stopping one action vs. dropping a full -on war after 90 percent of the story had been written is completely different.

          Biden isn’t “secretly” doing weapons or you wouldn’t know about it. This isn’t Iran Contra and your comparison is absurd, this is direct military aid he’s authorized to make.

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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            8 months ago

            “This doesn’t just seem like an attempt to avoid technical compliance with US arms export law, it’s an extremely troubling way to avoid transparency and accountability on a high-profile issue,” Ari Tolany, director of the security assistance monitor at the Centre for International Policy thinktank, said.

            Did you read this post? What?

            • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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              8 months ago

              Yes, but I don’t immediately incorporate opinions into every fiber of my being.

              I tried to rationally look at the thing from different angles instead, and find the one that Occam and political context agree with.

              • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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                8 months ago

                Biden secretly gives israel bombs

                “That’s just like your opinion dude.”

                Unbeatable argument

                • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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                  8 months ago

                  It’s cool that you’re making things up, because it just makes it easier for me.

                  The opinion is that Biden is doing this in secret.

                  It’s not a secret or you wouldn’t know about it.

                  Those sales are publicly available transparent information.

                  That’s how that guy writing that opinion piece got them.

                  I wish the US was sending no military aid to Israel also, but it ignores all of the problems that come with cutting off a 70-year-old ally in a war you’re not directly involved with.

                  • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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                    8 months ago

                    The Washington Post reported that administration officials informed Congress of the 100 foreign military sales to Israel in a classified briefing.

                    Few details are known of the sales, because keeping each one small meant their contents remained secret, but they are reported to have included precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid.

                    Can you read the entire article before you write your next comment please