US bypasses congressional review to approve sale of 12,000 bombs to Israel

The US State Department said on Friday that it has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of munitions and related support services, including 12,000 aerial bombs.

The deal is worth about $151.8 million, the department said in a statement.

Israel has requested to purchase 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies, it said.

"The Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) has determined and provided detailed justification that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and defense services is in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act," it said.

"The proposed sale will improve Israel's capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense and serve as a deterrent to regional threats," it added.

The package also includes US government and contractor engineering, logistics, technical support services, as well as other related elements of logistics and program support, the statement said.

Democratic US Representative Gregory Meeks said Rubio's decision to use emergency authority to bypass congressional review showed a lack of preparation for the war with Iran.

"The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it was fully prepared for this war. Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration's own creation," Meeks said in a statement.

The United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on February 28, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, multiple senior military commanders and hundreds of civilians. Iran has responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US assets across the region. 

The United States is Israel's largest weapons supplier. According to statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2023, 69% of Israel's arms imports came from the United States.

(With input from agencies)