US Arms Embargo on Israel: Biden Withholds 20,000 Heavy Bombs

Photo Credit: C-Span / YouTube screengrab

President Joe Biden on July 24, 2024

The Biden Administration is again withholding an important arms shipment from Israel, while the Jewish State is engaged in it existential fight against surrounding Iranian proxies.

The delivery of some 20,000 MK84 heavy bombs, each weighing a ton, has been delayed by the White House, according to a report Wednesday night Israel’s Channel 12 News.

It’s not the first time Israel’s ally has held back a delivery of badly needed weapons.

Previous shipments of needed arms and military equipment were delayed for months earlier this year due to a similar Biden Administration decision.

Multiple US Arms Embargoes Against Israel
The White House held up a large shipment of 2,000-pound (one ton) “bunker buster” bombs because Biden did not want Israel to use the bombs in Gaza. Bunker busters are needed to reach terrorist tunnels and concrete terror command centers built at a depth of 60 feet and sometimes even deeper.

Biden officials also slow-walked the delivery to Israel of 1,500-pound bombs; a few months later the White House agreed to send half of the shipment but continued to withhold the other half.

Biden announced in May that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent military forces into Rafah, he would pause deliveries of American weapons to Israel.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden told CNN at the time.

Despite the threat, Israeli forces entered Rafah, where they discovered more than 150 subterranean smuggling tunnels, some of them reaching into Egypt and big enough to accommodate trucks transporting terrorists, advanced Iranian weapons and luxury goods.

The IDF also rescued a living hostage in Rafah from one of the tunnels, and recovered the bodies of six executed Israelis who were being held hostage in another, less than a mile away. Among the bodies of the executed hostages was a dual US-Israeli citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Exposed: US Has Been Withholding Needed Arms as Israel Fights Hamas and Hezbollah

Israel’s prime minister exposed the American arms embargo in a video message less than a month later, infuriating Biden officials.

White House Cancels US-Israel Meeting on Iran After Bibi Exposes Arms Embargo

The Biden Administration subsequently canceled a meeting between high-ranking Israeli and American officials following a video message by Netanyahu, exposing the quiet arms embargo against Israel over Rafah, imposed for months by the White House.

Latest Biden Arms Embargo
Earlier this month (November 2024) the White House again stalled delivery of military equipment to Israel, this time a shipment of 134 Caterpillar D-9 armored bulldozers used to clear roadside bombs and to level homes used by terrorists near the Gaza border with Israel. Biden opposes the creation of a buffer zone along the border that would protect Israelis from any future October 7th attack.

The State Department has been holding up the export permits for the equipment, effectively blocking delivery of the bulldozers, which were to replace those in Israel that require maintenance after months of heavy use in Gaza.

In Leaked Letter, US Officials Ask Israel to Make 15 Policy Changes in Gaza or Risk Arms Embargo

The White House has also threatened to impose a complete arms embargo if Israel does not comply with US orders to make 15 policy changes in Gaza. In the letter, signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the White House expressed “deep concern” about the adoption of new Israeli legislation outlawing the presence of UNRWA in Israeli territory.

According to Letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on October 13th, which was presented to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer; it was stated that the United States is Concerned about… pic.twitter.com/VMb4OH5VFX

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 15, 2024
Hundreds of UNRWA employees were found to be members of the Hamas terrorist organization, and many participated in the October 7th invasion and attack on Israel. Moreover, most of the terrorists that are waging war against the Jewish State – from Gaza as well as from the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria – are graduates of UNRWA schools where teachers promoted incitement against Israel.

Israel’s Response to Biden Embargoes
The latest embargo could affect the operational capabilities of the Israeli Air Force as the IDF works to eliminate the massive arsenal being launched daily at Israeli civilians by the Hezbollah terrorist army in Lebanon.

As a result of this and the previous US arms embargoes, Channel 12 News reported a series of measures is being taken to prevent future efforts to cripple Israel’s ability to defend itself:
• Establishing infrastructure for local production of bombs
• Expansion of procurement sources
• Signing deals with additional non-American suppliers.

Alongside the above steps, intense talks are taking place between senior Israeli security officials and their US counterparts. Such talks were also carried out during prior American arms embargoes against the Jewish State but were only partially effective.

Trump Pledges to End Arms Embargoes
Incoming President-elect Donald Trump made a campaign promise to lift all delays and embargoes on the shipment of weapons and military equipment to Israel immediately upon entering the Oval Office.

Trump is known for keeping his campaign promises to Israel; during his prior term in office, he promised and delivered on a pledge to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which he formally recognized as the capital of the State of Israel. He also officially recognized Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights.

Nevertheless, Trump’s entry to the White House on January 20 is still two months away; a lot can happen between now and then.