US sends 500th aircraft to Israel as airlifts of weapons, equipment continue

Since October 7, the Biden administration has sent Israel over 50,000 tons of military equipment, both offensive and defensive.

 IAF 'Adir' F-35 fighter jets seen escorting US B-52 bombers on November 10, 2022 (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IAF 'Adir' F-35 fighter jets seen escorting US B-52 bombers on November 10, 2022
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The 500th aircraft in the joint airlift weapons and equipment operation from the US to Israel to assist with the ongoing war effort recently landed, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday.

Since October 7, the Biden administration has sent Israel over 50,000 tons of military equipment, both offensive and defensive.

In addition to the air lift resupply of Israel by the US, Washington has sent Jerusalem 107 shipments of military supplies by sea.

A Defense Ministry statement said that the equipment procured and transported includes "armored vehicles, munitions, ammunition, personal protection gear, and medical equipment, which are crucial for sustaining the IDF's operational capabilities during the ongoing war."

Freezing a shipment in May

In May, the Biden administration temporarily froze one shipment of very heavy bombs over its disagreement with Israel relating to the invasion of Rafah.

 MK-82 bombs. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
MK-82 bombs. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

In late June, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Washington and resolved almost all of the outstanding substantive disagreements on the issue, but then the dispute was drawn out by a public attack of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Biden administration over the issue.

Recently, that shipment was unfrozen and even during the time period that it was frozen, very large quantities of US military supplies continued to flow to Israel.