Fulfilling aid promise, first US plane carrying advanced weapons arrives in Israel

After multiple American officials pledged to support Israel in its war against the Hamas terror organization, the first shipment of military aid arrived in Israel.

A U.S. cargo plane carrying military equipment landed at the Nevatim Air Base on Tuesday evening carrying the first shipment of advanced weaponry.

The shipment was procured and brought to Israel via a joint operation by the Defense Ministry's Directorate of Production and Procurement, the U.S. Procurement Mission and the International Transportation Unit within the IMoD.

U.S. President Joe Biden gave an impassioned speech on Tuesday evening, promising full support for Israel and threatening other actors in the region not to join the fight.

“We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” Biden said. “We’re going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens.”

U.S. support will include “air defense and munitions,” a senior Pentagon official confirmed on Monday. The Pentagon is “contacting U.S. industry to gain expedited shipment of pending Israeli orders for military equipment,” he added.

An order of 1,000 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) has already been picked up by an Israeli transport aircraft and the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) conversion kits is also being prepared.

Meanwhile, a U.S. carrier strike group, led by the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday afternoon, according to Pentagon reports.

“The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation,” said Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of the U.S. Central Command.

U.S. defense officials told The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. may deploy a second aircraft carrier to the region near Israel.

In light of the massive ongoing military support the U.S. has provided to Ukraine, some critics cautioned that the U.S. would not be able to amply supply both nations at the same time.

However, according to Bradley Bowman, senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Israel and Ukraine don’t require the same type of munitions.

“Assertions that the United States cannot support Ukraine and Israel at the same time do not withstand scrutiny,” Bowman explained.

“Israel’s most urgent needs are air-launched precision-guided munitions and interceptor replenishments for Iron Dome — and there is little to no current competition between Israel and Ukraine for those capabilities. If we see an extended ground war, the weapons Israel needs from the U.S. may begin to overlap with some of the weapons Ukraine needs. But some overlap in the weapons needed by Ukraine and Israel could certainly be managed.

On Wednesday morning, the IDF reported that, since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, Hamas has fired over 5,000 rockets into Israel.

Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system uses Tamir interceptor missiles, which are mainly produced in the United States. Because Ukraine does not operate Iron Dome systems, it has no need for Tamir missiles in its ongoing conflict with Russia.