Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/4/biden-notifies-us-congress-of-planned-8bn-arms-sales-to-israel-reports
On January 3, 2025, the foreign affairs committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate were notified of an upcoming move by the Biden administration to give $8 billion worth of arms in a sale to Israel as an ally of the US. Some of these weapons are to be given soon, but others are supposed to be given throughout a longer period of time. This sale comes after two previous packages totalling $20.68 billion. This decision has come with some backlash from Democratic lawmakers because they claim that Israel is not doing enough to work against a humanitarian crisis happening in Gaza. Rights groups including the International Court of Justice have called Israel’s current state of war on Gaza a genocide and have ordered them to take steps to prevent a large scale genocide from happening. Israeli government and Hamas representatives are moving through the process of travelling to Qatar to discuss a potential ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
This sale is very important for the Middle East because it gives more resources to Israel over a longer period of time which makes it seem that this Israel-Hamas war will continue to go on instead of stopping soon because it wouldn’t make much sense to invest $8 billion in a conflict that is dwindling. I think even though this will make Israel more trusting in the US, it will create a greater imbalance for the region as a whole knowing there are more weapons to be used. I also think it will harden Hamas’ resolve to continue fighting because they will feel the need for greater protection against more weapons.
I expect that Israel will gladly accept this sale and any sale from the US. However, I do expect them to consider a ceasefire as long as it means the imprisonment of Hamas leaders and the return of all POWs. I expect that Hamas will also consider the ceasefire if they feel their members are in severe danger and will benefit more from stopping the war rather than continuing to fight. I do expect them to build up more resistance, though, as a counterbalancing act against this new sale. This connects to class because of the use of soft and hard power in times of conflict. The trading and economic support of Israel shows soft power, but in this scenario, it also shows hard power because of the threat of the weapons and the military power they can bring.