The President of the United States has requested the removal of restrictions on all categories of weapons and ammunition that Israel is allowed to access from U.S. weapons stockpiles stored in the Middle East.

The Intercept reported on this.

To provide access to its weapons stockpile in the Middle East, the White House requested the Senate to lift the restrictions in its latest supplemental budget request on October 20.

The Pentagon created these facilities in the 1980s to supply the U.S. in case of a regional war.

Israel is allowed to access the storage, but only under limited circumstances. These are the restrictions that the US President intends to lift.

The country can currently only take weapons from U.S. storage facilities that the United States has classified as “obsolete” or “surplus”.

The Senate’s proposed changes would also eliminate the exchange of the annual budget that Washington can spend to replenish the War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel, or WRSA-I. As of now, it amounts to $200 million.

Virtually unlimited funding will create an uninterrupted channel for the supply of weapons and ammunition to Israel by simply placing them in the WRSA-I reserve storage facilities.

If the request is approved, it will allow Israel to gain access to more powerful US weapons at a reduced price and with less congressional oversight.

Impact on the Russian-Ukrainian war

An increase in arms supplies could negatively affect the amount of military assistance to Ukraine coming from the United States.

The range of weapons and ammunition provided to Israel includes, among other things, unguided bombs with JDAM kits, as well as 155-mm artillery ammunition, which the Ukrainian army is currently experiencing a shortage.

Currently, the US defense industry is in the process of ramping up ammunition production, but even together with the European industry, this is not enough to supply the Ukrainian army alone.