The Biden administration is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The transaction, which would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7, comes as the administration is also expected to notify Congress soon of a large new sale of precision-guided munitions kits to Israel, the people said.

The new sales of some of the US’ most sophisticated weaponry underscore the extent to which the US continues to support Israel militarily, even as Biden administration officials criticize Israel’s operations in Gaza, which have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians since October, according to the Gaza ministry of health.

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Israel does not offer the U.S. any strategic advantage in the middle east at all. In addition to carriers in the Med at all times, multiple NATO members like Greece and Turkey are right there in the area. We do not need Israel at all. Not even a little.

      • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        What tangible military benefit has the US received from Israel beyond using it as a base in the middle east?

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          We don’t even use it as a base. We have something like 18 bases in varying other countries in the Middle East.

        • Haagel@lemmings.world
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          8 months ago

          That’s exactly my point. Israel is a US military base, from which it conducts a variety of operations in the region. It is very valuable to US foreign policy.

          Unfortunately the Biden administration has accepted that sponsoring genocide is a fair price to pay in exchange for that advantageous position in the middle east.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            No it isn’t. It’s just straight up not a base. Stop spreading this lie.

                • Haagel@lemmings.world
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                  8 months ago

                  So what do you think is the reason why the US is giving so much advanced weaponry to Israel?

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    If it were the GOP I’d say conservative Christians and call it a day. But it’s honestly baffling. It’s like a puzzle with a missing piece. He’s not getting an electoral bump from it (in fact some key states are in danger now). Our other allies are seriously concerned. Our Arab allies who host our bases in that region are pissed. And there’s no actual need for more planes or 2,000lb bombs. About the only things that fill the hole in the puzzle are a personal belief in Zionism; paying the military industrial complex; or he believes war with Iran is happening in the next term. There is no political reason for him to be dying on this hill.