US ‘unleashed Israel’ with all the weapons it needs, says Trump deputy envoy
The US deputy special envoy to the Middle East said on Sunday that Washington has “unleashed Israel” by giving it “all the weapons it needs” to continue its war on Gaza.
In an interview with Fox News, Morgan Ortagus said that former US President Joe Biden’s administration “made Israel fight with one hand tied behind their back”.
“They didn’t have the weapons they needed so they had to go back and get 30- and 40-year-old stockpiles of munitions,” she said.
Referring to Israel as Washington's "closest ally," Ortagus noted that the Trump administration's first move in office was to ensure Israel has "all the weapons it needs to finish its fight".
The US is the biggest arms supplier to Israel, accounting for 66 percent of the country's weapons imports between 2020 and 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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In January 2025, weeks before Biden was set to leave office, Washington approved the sale of $20bn in military equipment, including air-to-air missiles, Hellfire missiles, artillery shells and bombs, to Israel.
In February, the Washington Post reported that Trump revoked an order signed by Biden which would require assurances that US weapons would not be used in violation of international human rights law.
In March, the Trump administration bypassed a normal congressional review to approve a nearly $3bn arms sale to Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he had “signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately four billion dollars in military assistance to Israel".
He added that the Trump administration has approved nearly $12bn in arms sales to Israel so far.
Politico Pro reported earlier the month that the White House is “drafting an executive order aimed at streamlining the federal government’s process of selling weapons overseas.”
According to a source familiar with the order, it is set to reduce congressional oversight through amendments to laws regulating arms exports.
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