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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a significant boost in military assistance to Israel, with approximately USD four billion in aid set to be expedited, in a move that essentially reverses the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which had withheld certain weapons and ammunition from Israel.
“I have signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump,” a statement from the US State Department read.
Since taking office, the Trump Administration has approved nearly USD 12 billion in major Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Israel in a bid to repeal the Biden-era memorandum, which had imposed certain conditions on military assistance to Israel.
“Since taking office, the Trump Administration has approved nearly $12 billion in major FMS sales to Israel. This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed baseless and politicised conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies,” the statement further read.
The Trump Administration has pledged to continue using all available tools to support Israel’s security, including countering security threats. “The Trump Administration will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats”.
Rubio referred to Trump’s rescinding on Monday of National Security Memorandum 20. The order, signed by then-President Biden last year, had required recipients of US arms to commit in writing not to use them to target civilians or restrict humanitarian aid, Times of Israel reported.
