Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a letter of commitment to the American government on Thursday regarding the use of American weapons in accordance with international law during the fighting in Gaza.
Gallant also agreed that Israel would allow humanitarian aid supported by the US to enter the Strip without interference – this is what senior Israeli and American officials said on Friday night.
The commitment letter was a requirement of the Biden administration under a new national security memorandum that the president signed in early February.
Although the national security memorandum does not specifically refer to Israel, the new policy was established after pressure from Democratic senators who expressed concern about Israel’s use of American weapons in Gaza.
The Biden administration asked Israel to provide the commitment letter by mid-March.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is supposed to inform Congress by March 25 whether the commitments provided by Israel are reliable. If Blinken does not approve this, the supply of weapons to Israel may be delayed.
The War Cabinet authorized the Defense Minister to sign the letter of commitment already on Sunday, but Gallant signed it only last night. After the signing, the letter was delivered to the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lowe.
National security memorandum
The new national security memorandum that President Biden signed on February 8 states that before supplying American weapons to any country, that country must provide a written and reliable commitment that it will use these weapons only in accordance with international law.
According to the new policy, that country must also commit in writing that it will allow and not interfere with the delivery of American humanitarian aid or that which receives American support.
Senior Israeli and American officials said that Israel asked the Biden administration to add to Israel’s written commitment a letter from the American side in which the commitment of the United States to Israel’s security is emphasized that Israel has the right to defend itself and the continuation of American security assistance to Israel.
Senior officials in the Biden administration told their counterparts in Israel that in order to implement this request, a long process of consultations and negotiations is necessary, as a result of which Israel will not meet the deadline for signing the letter of commitments.
Senior American officials said that they indicated to the Israelis that they prefer to keep this process as contentious as possible and not turn it into a process of political negotiations that may also require Israel to provide the US with additional commitments of its own.
