Rizky Amelia
The Trump administration is advancing plans to deliver a massive $2.8 billion weapons package to Israel, featuring tens of thousands of heavy 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) munitions. The prospective transfer represents the largest single sale of such heavy ordnance in recent history, according to initial reporting from The Washington Post and the AFP news agency.
Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Israel would receive a total of 40,000 heavy-yield bombs. The inventory is divided evenly between 20,000 standard MK-84 general-purpose bombs and 20,000 BLU-117 weapons, which are modified with thermal coatings specifically engineered to ensure safer handling and storage aboard naval vessels. In addition to these munitions, the package incorporates specialized I-2000 Penetrator warheads designed to penetrate and destroy fortified subterranean installations and underground structures.
The entire multi-billion-dollar transaction is slated to be financed through the Foreign Military Financing program. Under this established bilateral mechanism, the United States government allocates grant funding to Israel, which the Israeli government then utilizes directly to purchase armaments and military equipment from American defense manufacturers.
The MK-84 munition, which was nicknamed the "hammer" by American military aviators during the 1991 Gulf War, ranks among the most devastating conventional explosive weapons maintained in Western military arsenals. The bomb is engineered to rupture reinforced concrete structures and generate high-velocity fragmentation patterns that scatter dangerous metal shrapnel across hundreds of meters.
The physical impact of the weapon was underscored by conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, who cited an unnamed federal official while discussing the transfer on social media. Carlson noted that the American-manufactured Mark 84 carries an effective blast and destruction radius extending outward for half a mile. He highlighted that the weapon generates a thermal wave comparable to temperatures found on the surface of the sun, possesses the power to level multi-story apartment buildings, and creates impact craters measuring 35 feet deep.
Informal notifications regarding the multibillion-dollar transfer have already been submitted to relevant congressional committees for initial review. When questioned about the transaction, a senior administration official stated only that all foreign arms sales continue to move through standard procedural channels. Meanwhile, the State Department maintained its long-standing policy of declining public comment on proposed military export packages prior to formal transmission to Congress.
The pending transfer comes after extensive documentation of the weapon's deployment throughout the region. Israeli forces have repeatedly dropped 2,000-pound munitions hundreds of times across operational theaters in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. These strikes have frequently impacted areas that had previously been designated as safe zones for civilians, drawing intense, ongoing condemnation from international human rights organizations.
The current arms package also highlights a major shift in White House policy regarding the transfer of heavy ordnance. During his tenure, former President Joe Biden instituted a temporary pause on a single shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in 2024 due to severe concerns surrounding civilian casualties in Gaza, marking the only specific weapons shipment withheld during that period. However, President Donald Trump formally rescinded that suspension during his first month after returning to the presidency.
The advancement of the deal unfolds against a backdrop of increasing political friction between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alongside growing bipartisan skepticism on Capitol Hill concerning unconditional military assistance to Israel.
Congressional opposition to the initiative is already mounting. United States Senator Chris Van Hollen announced his intention to mount a legislative effort to halt the transaction, strongly criticizing the administration for transferring heavy weaponry funded by American taxpayers to a foreign government headed by a leader he characterized as a wanted war criminal.
Criticism has also emerged from prominent conservative voices who traditionally align with the administration's political base. Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly rejected the sale, stating that the American public did not vote for such policies and arguing that taxpayer resources and weapons should not be utilized in operations resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
Carlson similarly condemned the roughly $3 billion transfer, characterizing the arms package as a gift to an Israeli leadership that he accused of attempting to exterminate unarmed civilian populations in Gaza. He accompanied his remarks with a direct call for members of the Senate and the broader US Congress to intervene and block the transfer from moving forward.
Regional analysts and foreign policy experts have pointed out the contradictory signals generated by the transaction. Brian Finucane, a senior adviser with the US Program at the International Crisis Group, observed that finalizing the sale communicates a strong vote of confidence to Israeli leadership, even if that message is unintentional, precisely at a time when the Trump administration publicly claims it is pursuing regional de-escalation.
Strategic analysts further evaluate the timing of the request as a deliberate effort by Israeli officials to secure long-term, expansive military commitments from Washington. Observers suggest Israeli defense planners are keen to lock in binding American defense support now, driven by calculations that future United States administrations may not maintain an equally unconditional approach to bilateral military assistance.
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