U.S. Pursues Sale of Record Number of Large Bombs to Israel... Is It Seeking to Withdraw from Iran War?

[Financial News]  

The Donald Trump administration is pursuing the sale of the largest-ever package of large bombs to Israel, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 16th (local time). It cannot be ruled out that President Donald Trump, bogged down in the war with Iran, is pursuing the plan to withdraw from the conflict by having Israel act as his proxy.

Citing U.S. government officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that a record $2.8 billion (approximately 3.85 trillion won) sale of large bombs to Israel is being pursued. The Trump administration is pressing ahead with the arms sale even as public sentiment toward Israel deteriorates in the United States.
The plan initially calls for the sale of 40,000 2,000-pound-class bombs. Half would be Mark 84 general-purpose conventional bombs, while the other half would be BLU-117 bombs with enhanced penetrating power.
A 2,000-pound-class bomb is powerful enough to completely destroy an apartment building and create a crater 15 meters wide.
The sale plan also includes 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator bunker-buster warheads, designed to penetrate concrete or underground structures and explode inside them.
The total firepower involved in the deal is so enormous that it would be enough to cover the entire Gaza Strip several times over.

Arms support for Israel, some of which had been frozen under the previous Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. administration because of casualties in the Gaza Strip, was fully restored under the Trump administration. After meeting and speaking by phone several times with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump launched the Iran war by attacking Iran alongside Israel on February 28.
The specific delivery schedule for the record-scale bomb sale has not been disclosed.
The relevant committees in both chambers of the U.S. Congress still need to review the deal. The timeline could range from several months to several years, depending on whether the weapons are delivered immediately from existing stockpiles or supplied after new production by manufacturers.
However, the Trump administration has previously invoked emergency approval authority to bypass congressional review, leaving open the possibility of early delivery depending on circumstances.

Attention is focused on the background to the proposed bomb sale as calls to end support for Israel grow in the United States.
Various analyses have emerged over Trump’s decision to pursue a massive arms sale despite the political burden, as he faces worsening public sentiment over the Iran war ahead of the midterm elections on November 3.
Some observers believe the intention may be to withdraw from the stalled war with Iran and instead assign Israel the role of proxy in confronting Iran. The strategy may be designed to give Israel overwhelming firepower, including bunker busters and large bombs, to deter and strike Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran-aligned forces such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen, thereby shifting responsibility for those operations to Israel.

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