Washington Expands Secret Mechanisms to Supply Weapons to Israel: Experts Warn of Catastrophic Consequences
In what has been described as one of the most troubling legislative moves in Washington since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the White House, together with the House of Representatives, is seeking to expand a covert mechanism granting Israel unrestricted access to U.S. weaponry.
This initiative raises serious concerns about potentially catastrophic consequences for the transparency of arms transfers, as well as the negative impact on the readiness of the U.S. military itself.
At the heart of the issue lies the State Department funding bill, normally regarded as a routine and essential piece of legislation to sustain American foreign policy. Yet this year’s version contains a provision paving the way for unlimited transfers of U.S. weapons to a special stockpile based in Israel, known as the “War Reserve Stockpile Allies – Israel” (WRSA-I).
According to Josh Paul, a former State Department official, this stockpile is “the least transparent” in Israel’s entire weapons procurement system.
Since October 7, it has become a primary source of supply, enabling Israel to carry out an unprecedented aerial campaign, which experts describe as the most intense of the twenty-first century.
How does the mechanism work?
The transfer process is nearly obstacle-free: once Israel submits a request, the U.S. Secretary of Defense has the authority to approve it immediately, without the usual procedures such as notifying Congress or even the White House. As Paul explains: “Israel can walk in, take what it needs, and leave. Payment is often settled later.”
This extraordinary supply arrangement is reinforced by recent legal changes. In 2024, Congress passed legislation temporarily lifting the annual caps on the value and type of weapons transferred to the WRSA-I, previously limited to $200 million. The law also granted the Secretary of Defense the authority to determine the valuation of equipment rather than adhere to fair market pricing.
Bypassing transparency
Even before these amendments, the Biden administration had used the stockpile to evade transparency rules. In the early days of the Gaza war, massive shipments were broken down into smaller transactions under $25 million—the threshold that would trigger a congressional notification.
This maneuver enabled dozens of shipments to proceed under the radar, explaining the continued flow of weapons despite the relatively low number of officially announced sales. Yet this policy carries a cost: U.S. reserves are already under immense strain from simultaneous military support for both Ukraine and Israel.
Josh Paul warns that the proposed expansion of the WRSA-I carries the risk of “a major depletion in U.S. military readiness,” at a time of escalating tensions with Russia and China.
A sensitive moment
The bill’s sensitivity is heightened by the recent release of a United Nations expert report accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The report concluded that the scale of destruction and the death toll far exceed any plausible military justification. Tel Aviv swiftly rejected the allegations, calling them “entirely based on Hamas lies.”
Further erosion of oversight
Even more troubling, the bill includes another provision removing the State Department’s obligation to provide Congress with regular reports on issues such as global human rights. This further diminishes congressional oversight of U.S. foreign policy, prompting experts to sound the alarm.
According to John Ramming-Chappell, adviser at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, if enacted in its current form, “legislative oversight will be severely weakened, and both Congress and the public will have far less information about U.S. foreign policy and its consequences.”
