Dichter revealed the existence of the embargo in a speech delivered last Thursday at the Saban Center for Middle East Studies at the Brookings Institution, where Dichter is now a fellow. He said that the embargo was imposed because the of the Israeli policy of "targeted killings" by the Israeli air-force using US-made helicopters.
"The embargo was lifted after the 9/11 attacks", Dichter said in his speech, going on to insinuate that the US itself was forced to adopt the same policy in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Left-wing groups in Europe and the US have long sought to convince the US government to stop selling Israel aircraft, claiming the Israeli air force was breeching the "terms of use" agreed upon with the US government – but the Pentagon and the State Department had traditionally rejected those claims.
Meanwhile, US forces in Iraq have been purchasing ammunition and supplies from Israel due to the fact that American suppliers cannot keep up with the demand for ammunition by the US Army.
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. "The Department of Defense's increased requirements for small- and medium-caliber ammunitions have largely been driven by increased weapons training requirements, dictated by the army's transformation to a more self-sustaining and lethal force - which was accelerated after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 - and by the deployment of forces to conduct recent US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition from Israel last year.