Massive sum: America sells weapons to Israel for 20 billion dollars.

Israel is apparently preparing for a larger scale military conflict, acquiring new weaponry for an amount equivalent to one-third of the Hungarian GDP.

Israel is buying weapons from the United States for $20 billion, which is equivalent to 7,000 billion forints – reports the American news agency AP.

This is a huge amount, approximately 35% of the Hungarian gross domestic product (GDP),

indicating that Israel is willing to do everything to strengthen its deterrent capabilities and prepare its capacities for a major military confrontation.

The US State Department announced on Tuesday the new military agreement, which includes selling 50 F-15 fighter jets, medium-range air-to-air AMRAAM missiles, 120mm tank rounds, high explosive mortars, and tactical strike weapons to Israel.

The article indicates that

these military assets are expected to arrive in Israel only months or years later,

the contract includes a target completion date in 2026, so the arsenal will only provide reinforcement for the Israeli military in the long term. The Pentagon states that the shipments will not begin within one to two years, with the equipment expected to be received by Israel in 2026 and the fighter jets likely only in 2029 – according to Reuters.

According to the statement by the State Department,

the United States remains committed to ensuring Israel’s security,

and it continues to be in the American national security interest for Israel to be capable of self-defense, and this shipment of military equipment will serve this goal.

AP notes: there is a lot of pressure on the Biden administration from Congress regarding support for Israel – lawmakers are demanding that the Washington government put more effort into urging the Israeli military to stop the large civilian casualties caused by bombings in Gaza. An American arms shipment was halted with reference to this, but due to the tense situation between Iran and Israel, it was deemed timely to support Israel again. However, other sources point out that

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, America has transferred 10,000 bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles to Israel.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in his Tehran residence on July 31, just hours after attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president as a Palestinian delegation leader. Iran promised harsh responses to the suspected Israeli assassination.