OBAMA BLOCKING SALES OF APACHES TO ISRAEL…HE’S “DISMAYED’ AT THEIR USE IN OPERATION CAST LEAD..
So perfectly does this fit the “Obama is deepy anti-Israel” narrative that I’m almost inclined to doubt it’s true. A story about how the WH is generically hamstringing weapons sales, fair enough. The Pentagon is again dragging its feet on Israel’s Joint Strike Fighter requests, because apparently the two year delay created by WH “obstacles” hasn’t sufficiently damanged US/Israeli relations. So there’s some precedent.
But blocking Apaches that are critical to Israel’s urban warfighting because Israel used them to fight an urban war – that’s meat a bit too red. And yet, two separate sources:
The administration… is delaying an upgrade project for Israel’s military on the grounds that it could be deployed against Palestinian militants. Industry sources said the Defense Department has taken measures to slow down an upgrade of Israel’s AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fleet. The sources said at least three Apache helicopters have been awaiting an upgrade at Boeing, the prime contractor… The sources said the delay of the Apache project stemmed from the White House’s concern that Israel was rebuilding its military for another war. They said… Obama was dismayed by the widespread use of the Apache and other U.S. platforms during the January 2009 war with the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. “Everything having to do with Israel’s Apache fleet has been delayed by the administration,” another source said.
So much for that year-end Forward article about how US/Israeli arms sales demonstrate that “strategic security relations between the two countries are flourishing.” It’s become a standard lefty talking point in the last few months, and it really ought not be.
It’s not just that Obama’s anti-Israel diplomatic offensive has actually damaged strategic security relations across the board, though it has. It’s that the entire article – from the headline about arms cooperation all the way through the stuff about promoting Israel’s qualitative military edge – is the opposite of true. No arms deal has been made with Israel since Obama took office, while Arab countries have been the beneficiaries of unprecedented largess:
The United States has recently signed major arms deals with several Arab states. Israeli officials have expressed concern at the scope and content of the agreements… According to the Pentagon report to Congress, no arms deal with Israel have taken place since President Barack Obama took office.…One of the deals troubling Israel was the sale to Egypt of four batteries of Harpoon Block II anti-ship cruise missiles… advanced, accurate missile[s], capable of overcoming the countermeasures and electronic warfare suites generally available for defense. The U.S. also sold Egypt four fast missile boats… 450 Hellfire antitank missiles [for Apaches]… [and] 156 jet engines for F-16 jets… A large arms deal with Saudi Arabia includes the sale of 2,742 TOW-2 antitank missiles… The U.S. will deliver to the Jordanian armed forces 1,808 Javelin antitank missiles with 162 launchers that are equipped with night vision systems… The Javelin is an advanced missile, capable of penetrating most tanks available today… [and] more than 80 advanced rocket launchers.
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When the Israelis expressed concerns to the Obama administration they were told that Bush did it too, which is kind of true and totally irrelevant. It misses how Bush didn’t simultaneously freeze arms sales to Israel. It neglects how Obama’s deals go beyond Bush-era sales. And it ignores the quantitative degradation in Israel’s arsenal that occurred during Cast Lead.
But at least it’s not also obnoxiously predictable!
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