The White House requested the removal of restrictions on all categories of weapons and ammunition to which Israel is allowed access from US weapons stockpiles stored in Israel itself.

This move to lift restrictions was included in the supplemental budget request submitted by the White House, which was sent to the Senate on October 20. The proposed budget says: “This request would allow the transfer of all categories of defense materials (military materials).”

The request relates to unknown weapons stockpiles in Israel that were established by the Pentagon for use in regional conflicts, but which Israel has been allowed to access in limited circumstances - the same limits that US President Joe Biden is seeking to remove.

In a statement to The Intercept, John Rahming-Chappell, a legal fellow at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, said: “If approved, the amendments will create two steps to bypass restrictions imposed on the transfer of American weapons to Israel.”

The War Reserve Allies of Israel (WRSA-I) was created in the 1980s to supply the United States in the event of a regional war, and is the largest link in a complex network of caches of virtually foreign American weapons. According to American laws, stocks are subject to high security oversight and are subject to a set of stringent requirements. Under the conditions stipulated in these requirements, Israel was able to draw on the stockpile and purchase weapons at no or little cost under the guise of “effective support for US military aid.”

Through WRSA-I, Biden is looking to lift almost all significant restrictions on the stockpile and transfer of weapons to Israel, with plans to remove restrictions on obsolete or surplus weapons, waive caps on annual spending on replenishing the stockpile, and remove Gun restrictions and reduced congressional oversight. All changes in Biden's budget plan will be permanent, except for raising the spending cap, which is limited to fiscal year 2024.

The changes will come in an already secret arms trade relationship, as The Intercept recently reported. While the administration provided pages of detailed lists of weapons provided to Ukraine, for example, its disclosure of weapons provided to Israel does not warrant discussion. Last week, the American website “Bloomberg” obtained a leaked list of weapons provided to Israel, and revealed that it included thousands of Hellfire missiles - the same type that Israel widely uses in the ongoing air strikes of the Gaza Strip.

Josh Paul, a former official who served in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said the impact of lifting restrictions on transfers to Israel - such as eliminating the requirement that weapons be part of surplus weapons - could harm US interests by reducing The United States' readiness for its conflicts in the region.

Paul, who resigned last October over US arms aid to Israel, told The Intercept that “by dropping the requirement to declare such material as excess as required by law, this will also increase the current pressure on American military readiness to provide more weapons to Israel.”

The US government is supposed to spend just $200 million per fiscal year to restock the WRSA-I stockpile, about half the total maximum for all US stockpiles worldwide. However, the White House request would waive the cap on US contributions to the stockpile in Israel. This would allow stock to be constantly replenished.

“The President’s additional emergency funding request would essentially create a free-flowing pipeline to provide any defense materials to Israel once they are placed in the WRSA-I stockpile, or other stockpiles designated for Israel,” Paul said.

The United States currently requires that Israel grant certain concessions in exchange for certain types of weapons aid from the Pentagon, but the White House request would eliminate that requirement as well.

Experts say the White House request would also reduce congressional oversight of US arms transfers by reducing the length of advance notice provided to Congress before arms transfers. Under current law, there must be 30 days advance notice, but Biden's budget request would allow that period to be shortened in "exceptional" circumstances.

“The Biden administration’s supplemental budget request would further undermine oversight and accountability even as it enables US support for Israeli attacks that have killed thousands of (Palestinian) children,” said Chappelle, of the Center for Civilians in Conflict.

The House already passed legislation mirroring the White House request last month, and it is now before the Senate.

“Taken as a package, it is extraordinary,” said William Hartung, an arms expert at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “It will make it difficult for Congress or the public to monitor US arms transfers to Israel, even as the United States monitors US arms transfers to Israel.” 

"The Israeli government has engaged in widespread attacks on civilians, some of which constitute war crimes," he added.