Trump eyes $2.8b arms sale to Israel, including 40,000 tons of bombs

US preparing $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel, including 40,000 2,000-pound bombs.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Trump administration is preparing a $2.8 billion weapons package for Israel that would include 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, in what would be the largest single US sale of the powerful munitions to Israel in recent years, according to US officials cited in multiple reports.

The proposed package includes 20,000 MK-84 general-purpose bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 bombs, a US official familiar with the sale told Reuters.

The Washington Post said it would also include 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator bunker buster warheads.

The transaction has been presented to the congressional committees responsible for reviewing major US weapons transfers, an early stage in the arms-sale process.

It has not yet received a publicly announced final approval.

The Trump administration is pressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership to clear the package, according to the Post.

Although formally structured as a weapons sale to Israel, much of the purchase would be financed using US Foreign Military Financing funds.

Asked about concerns surrounding the planned transfer, a senior Trump administration official told the Post: “All foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”

The State Department and Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment Tuesday.

The proposal represents a major expansion of Israel’s stock of heavy US-made air-dropped munitions.

The MK-84 is a 2,000-pound general-purpose bomb capable of destroying large structures and penetrating reinforced materials. BLU-117 bombs are also 2,000-pound general-purpose weapons and can be paired with guidance systems to create precision-guided munitions.

The size of the latest package would exceed a major sale approved in February 2025, when the State Department authorized Israel to purchase up to 35,529 MK-84 or BLU-117 bomb bodies, along with 4,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads, for an estimated $2.04 billion.

At the time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked emergency authority to waive the usual congressional review requirements.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said of that sale that assisting Israel in maintaining “a strong and ready self-defense capability” was “vital to US national interests” and argued that the weapons would improve Israel’s ability to confront existing and future regional threats.

The new proposed package has so far been put through the normal informal congressional consultation process rather than announced under an emergency waiver.

The transfer is also notable because 2,000-pound bombs were at the center of a controversy involving the Biden administration’s decision two years ago to limit some arms shipments to Israel.

Then-President Joe Biden suspended a shipment of the weapons in spring 2024 over concerns about their potential use during an Israeli operation in densely populated Rafah.

President Donald Trump reversed that policy almost immediately after returning to office in January 2025.

“We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One at the time.

“They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time.” Asked why he was releasing the weapons, Trump replied, “because they bought them.”

Since then, the administration has authorized several additional munitions packages for Israel.

In February 2025, Washington approved a separate $6.75 billion weapons package containing thousands of smaller bombs as well as 13,000 JDAM guidance kits designed for MK-84 bomb bodies. A further $510 million package of JDAM guidance systems was approved in June 2025.

The administration also used emergency authority during the US-Israel war with Iran in March 2026 to bypass normal congressional review for additional munitions sales to Israel.

The Senate subsequently rejected attempts led by Sen. Bernie Sanders to block some of those transfers, although the votes demonstrated increased Democratic opposition to unrestricted military assistance.

If the latest transaction completes the congressional and administrative process, it would substantially increase Israel’s future supply of some of the heaviest conventional bombs in the US arsenal. Delivery schedules have not yet been publicly disclosed, and large Foreign Military Sales orders can take years to manufacture and deliver.