The Trump administration is advancing a nearly $6 billion arms sale to Israel, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
The proposed sales, to be paid for with US-provided foreign military financing, include a $3.8 billion deal for 30 AH-64 Apache helicopters, which would nearly double Israel's existing fleet, the newspaper said.
Additionally, the administration is seeking approval for a $1.9 billion deal for 3,250 infantry assault vehicles for the IDF, documents reviewed by WSJ revealed.
These weapons are not expected to be delivered for another two to three years.
The State Department has initiated the process by seeking approval from the four top leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. These key leaders typically must sign off on major foreign weapons deals before a broader congressional notification is issued.
The proposed arms sales were first sent to congressional leaders about a month ago, prior to Israel’s September 9 strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, according to WSJ. Despite the subsequent regional backlash and anger from President Trump over the strike in the Gulf ally, the administration has continued to seek approval for the sales.
The State Department, Israel's defense ministry, and the White House all declined to comment on the matter.
The Trump administration has notably expanded US weapons transfers to Israel since taking office. This follows the actions of the previous Biden administration, which had surged weapons to Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack that killed approximately 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 hostages taken.
Last year, former President Joe Biden briefly withheld shipments of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs during a disagreement with the Israeli government over a planned offensive in Rafah.
Biden later released the shipment of 500-pound bombs, and President Trump removed the hold on the 2,000-pound bombs after he took office.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)