Trump likely to give Israel powerful bombs again


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Israel anticipates Donald Trump will swiftly reverse the Biden administration’s restrictions on providing 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs, according to recent reports.

Mike Herzog, Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the United States, shared with Axios that he anticipates the former president will authorize the release of these munitions during his initial days back in office.

“We believe that Trump is going to release, at the beginning of his term, the munitions that haven’t been released until now by the Biden administration,” Herzog said.

The Biden administration implemented the suspension in May, concerned about potential mass civilian casualties in Gaza. Before the ban, the US had supplied Israel with over 10,000 of these powerful explosives, which earned their nickname “bunker busters” due to their ability to penetrate deep underground before exploding.

This restriction reportedly created significant tension between the US and Israel, marking one of the most severe diplomatic strains since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023.

The news coincides with Trump’s latest executive action, which temporarily freezes all US foreign assistance programs for a 90-day period to evaluate their alignment with American values. This decision could permanently eliminate funding to UNRWA, a UN relief agency providing $1.5 billion annually to Palestinians, which Israel alleges employs Hamas terrorists.

“The United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values,” the executive order states. “They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”

The order mandates that future foreign assistance must fully align with presidential foreign policy directives. However, the immediate impact remains uncertain, as Congress has already allocated and potentially distributed much of the affected funding.

The US currently operates under existing restrictions regarding UNRWA support, following legislation signed by Biden last year. This suspension extends through March, implemented after the agency terminated twelve employees allegedly involved in Hamas’s October attacks on Israel.

Under the new directive, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will oversee foreign aid allocation in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget. During his confirmation hearing, Rubio outlined his approach.

“Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions. Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” he said.

Major aid recipients, particularly Israel, which receives approximately $3.3 billion annually, are expected to maintain their current funding levels despite these changes.

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