US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke with Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday, reaffirming the strong alliance between the two nations and addressing key security concerns in the region. According to Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot, the discussion focused on bilateral interests, regional developments, and security assistance priorities. Hegseth assured Katz that the United States “remains 100 percent committed to Israel's security”, emphasizing the "unbreakable bond" between the two countries. One of the primary topics of the conversation was the ongoing threat posed by Iran. Both leaders agreed that Iran continues to be a destabilizing force in the region and pledged to work closely together to address this challenge, said the statement from the Pentagon. The call comes several days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he had signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. “The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump,” Rubio said in a statement. “Since taking office, the Trump Administration has approved nearly $12 billion in major FMS sales to Israel. This important decision coincides with President Trump’s repeal of a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies,” he added. US President Donald Trump recently confirmed that he had instructed to release the hold on 2,000-pound bombs intended for shipment to Israel. “A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are now on their way!”, Trump wrote in his Truth Social platform. In early May, Axios reported that Biden decided to put on hold a weapons shipment that was supposed to be sent to Israel. The White House later confirmed it had paused a shipment of bombs to Israel due to US opposition to a planned Israeli attack on the Gazan city of Rafah. Related articles: Netanyahu lands in Washington, meets US Commerce Secretary Netanyahu leaves for US to talk to Trump about tariffs Netanyahu may visit the US next week 15 Democrats back Sanders’ failed bid to block Israel arms sales A day later, Biden warned that he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah. In August, the US sent Israel a shipment of MK-83 bombs , weighing half a ton each.
