US bypasses Congress for $8.6bn ME military sales
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration bypassed congressional review on Friday to approve military sales totalling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements came as the US-Israel war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01bn and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4m.
They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5bn and to Israel of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems costing $992.4m.
The State Department approved a sale to the UAE of APKWS for $147.6m.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. The strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
Lockheed Martin and RTX were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defence replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates allege involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and labourers.
The three countries have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
Washington has maintained support for its allies. Its backing for Israel has come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over the assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a UN inquiry.
Israel defends its actions, contending that it reacts in self-defence after “Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people” in the raid on Oct 7, 2023.
Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2026