Marco Rubio signs a declaration to fast-track $4 billion in military assistance to Israel, bypassing Congressional review and reversing restrictions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed a declaration to use “emergency authorities” to expedite the delivery of $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.
Since taking office on January 20, the Trump administration “has approved nearly $12 billion” in major financial military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement on Saturday.
“The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump,” he noted.
‘Long-Standing Commitment’
Calling the moving an “important decision,” Rubio said it “coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies.”
Rubio Expedites Shipment of $4 Billion in Military Aid for Israel
The move came a day after the State Department approved around $3 billion in weapons deals for Israel
by Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Israel #Gaza #Palestinians #MarcoRubio https://t.co/48RrBrL2Rj— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) March 2, 2025
He stressed that the Trump administration “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”
The decision follows an announcement by the Pentagon on Friday that the State Department had approved a potential sale of bombs, demolition equipment, and other weapons to Israel, valued at approximately $3 billion.
Congress was notified of the potential arms sale on an emergency basis on Friday.
Bypasses Review
This move bypasses a long-standing practice of allowing the heads and members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to review the deal and request additional information before formally notifying Congress.
The arms sales include 35,529 general-purpose bombs weighing around 1,000 kilograms each and 4,000 bunker-buster bombs of the same weight.
According to The New York Times, several “of the cases of munitions to be sent to Israel were undergoing review in Congress.”
However, citing an anonymous official, the report added, “one large case worth about $2 billion had not been sent by the State Department to Congress for review.”
It noted that besides the $2 billion worth of bombs, “the other military equipment to be sent to Israel under the emergency authorization includes bulldozers, more bombs and GPS-guidance kits to be fitted onto unguided or ‘dumb’ bombs.”
This is the second time in one month that the Trump administration has declared an emergency to expedite the approval of arms sales to Israel.
The administration of former President Joe Biden had previously used emergency authorities to approve arms sales to Israel without congressional review.
Ceasefire Concerns
A ceasefire came into effect on January 19 bringing to a halt Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip which has killed over 48,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 111,000 more.
Israel is dragging out Phase II of the Gaza ceasefire — the stage that would end the war and see its forces withdraw.
Read the latest analysis by Robert Inlakesh on The Palestine Chronicle:
https://t.co/fM3XkT6Vty
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 2, 2025
On Sunday, after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, Israel said it had agreed to US envoy, Steve Witkoff’s proposal of a temporary extension to the ceasefire during the month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday.
Hamas rejected the proposal and called for the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel instead.
The movement argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reliance on American proposals to extend the first phase was a clear attempt to avoid honoring the agreement.
Hamas Appeals to Mediators
Hamas also condemned Netanyahu’s decision to halt the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, calling it “a cheap act of blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant violation of the agreement.”
The group urged international mediators and the global community to pressure Israel to end “its punitive and immoral measures” against Gaza’s two million residents.
The second phase of the ceasefire involves the return of the remaining detainees, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a cessation of hostilities. Hamas has stated its readiness to return all prisoners at once during this phase.
The third phase will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, with the UN estimating the cost to be over $53 billion.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
It’s time for the American citizens to withhold ALL taxes paid to our corrupt government. We can handle getting a slap on the collective wrist if it means they can’t use our money to kill little babies in the name of ZioNazis pretending Hamas is a threat. Collectively, we pay them just over 4 TRILLION a year! If we don’t pay, they can’t give it to Wasrael. ” but what about the economy? ” …What economy?!! they keep spending it on fake Jews who are endangering the lives of real Jews, while they murder as many Arabs as possible.
The only other option is War-Tax Resistance. Our government is out of control. If we can’t fix it, who will?
https://www.warresisters.org/war-tax-resistance/