Trump admin to send Israel $1 billion in bombs and bulldozers

This would be in addition to the $8 billion in arms already requested by the former administration.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

President Trump is asking Congress to support the sale of a billion dollars’ worth of bombs and bulldozers to Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

A majority of the deal is for ordinance of the half-ton, MK83 variety, some 4,700 bombs worth over $700 million that the Israeli air force uses constantly against terrorist forces.

The one-ton variety, called the MK84, are considered “bunker-busters.” These, and a much lighter, 500-pound version, are the munitions that the Biden administration paused shipment of when the IDF invaded Rafah last May, to signal its displeasure regarding Jerusalem ignoring its demand not to enter the southern town that was Hamas’ last stronghold at the time.

Just a few days after taking office, Trump removed that suspension, saying that the Israelis “paid for them and they have been waiting for them for a long time.”

The other $300 million is for armored, Caterpillar bulldozers, which have been used throughout the war to probe for booby traps before troops move onto Gazan streets, find tunnel openings, and knock down buildings from which terrorists have threatened the soldiers.

These items would be in addition to the $8 billion in arms that the Biden administration requested “informally” for Israel just two weeks before the former president left office.

Those munitions include medium-range air-to-air missiles to help Israel defend against UAVs and other airborne threats, 155mm artillery shells, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles for Israel’s helicopter gunships, 500-lb bombs of the kind that had previously been slow-walked, and JDAM kits that turn “dumb” bombs into “smart,” guided ones.

It was expected that in his meeting with the president Tuesday, Netanyahu would ask that the sale be speeded up if possible.

Only some of these arms can be supplied from current American stockpiles. The orders for the majority will take one or more years to fill.

All arms sales need prior approval of both the House and Senate foreign relations committees before going to the respective houses for a vote.

From the day of the Hamas invasion of Israel that sparked the current war in October 2023 to October 2024, the United States has provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel, with most if not all spent by Israel on purchasing American-made hardware.

This is a record for a single 12-month period, as estimated by the Costs of War Project at Brown University.