In the face of war, Israel wants to increase its weapons arsenal. However, a right-wing extremist politician raises doubts among desired supplier USA.
Washington/Tel Aviv – In the ever-progressing Israel war Despite constant new developments, there is no imminent ceasefire in sight. This is also reflected in the uproarious statements made by the right-wing minister for cultural heritage, Amichai Elijahu, who suggested a nuclear strike. However, Elijahu is just one of many hardliners in the Otzma Yehudit party, which also includes Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
USA has security concerns about supplying arms to Israel
The Israeli government has submitted a request to the US government for 24,000 assault rifles of various models. The majority of these are said to be M4 and MK18 rifles from the manufacturer Colt Defense. Some of the weapons are already ready for delivery, while others still have to be produced.
In the of the New York Times published report However, the concerns of the USA are also described. Approval from the US State Department is therefore not just a formality. Informed congressional committees and individual employees of the ministry have reported security concerns. These should primarily be civil servants who primarily deal with human rights issues.
Further violence from Israeli settlers feared
Specifically, there are fears that Israeli settlers in the West Bank could get their hands on weapons and that violence there could continue to increase. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. Not all of the deaths can be attributed to actions by the Israeli military, but also to attacks by extreme, armed settlers.
A supporter of the radical settlement policy is the right-wing extremist Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Even before October 7th, Ben-Gvir was often included Provocation and insults towards Muslims and was also convicted several times for incitement to hatred. In addition, at the beginning of April the minister secured the opportunity to to set up a national guardwhich is feared to become its private militia.
Now Ben-Gvir is one of the people who decide which Israeli groups will distribute weapons to. A month ago, Ben-Gvir announced that he wanted to arm settlements on a large scale. A project that the United States would be reluctant to support by releasing weapons.
Discussions between the countries are ongoing in the background
To ensure that the US officials’ fears do not come true, detailed discussions are being held in the background. Jessica Lewis, assistant secretary in the Office of Political-Military Affairs, confirmed to the New York Timesthat progress has already been made. “We have received assurances from the Israelis that these weapons will only go to units controlled by the INP,” Lewis said.
If this promise is implemented in this way, it could actually prevent the weapons from being used in the West Bank, because the INP is not officially active there. However, in addition to full-time staff, the institution also consists of volunteers, who can therefore also come from residential areas. In addition, the INP is subordinate to the Ministry of National Security and therefore to Ben-Gvir, who could follow up his announcements with actions despite previous agreements. (sh)
#Israel #orders #assault #rifles #USA #hesitates #minister