The US has invoked national security to approve a sale to Israel of more than $100mn in tank ammunition in a move that bypasses Congress, which has struggled to approve bills providing more foreign military aid.
The US state department on Saturday said that an “emergency exists” that justified it bypassing the usual Congressional review on the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 tank cartridges and other items for an estimated cost of $106.5mn.
“The secretary of state determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the ammunition “in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under?.?.?.?the Arms Export Control Act,” the state department said.