It requires the U.S. Department of Defense to consult with Israel on its capability to deter threats from Iran and provide a report to Congress.
(March 18, 2022 / JNS) Two pro-Israel members of Congress introduced a bipartisan bill on Friday to provide Israel bunker-buster munitions as Iran and the United States appear to be nearing an agreement in negotiations to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The Bunker Buster bill, drafted by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) will authorize U.S. President Joe Biden to provide Israel with Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP) bombs, which are capable of taking out Iran’s underground nuclear infrastructure.
The bill also requires the U.S. Department of Defense to consult with Israel on its capability to deter a full range of threats from Iran and provide a report to Congress.
“We must prepare for the serious threat of a nuclear-armed Iran when key provisions of the deal expire. That’s why I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to defend Israel from Iran and Hezbollah and reinforce our ally’s Qualitative Military Edge [QME] in the region with ‘bunker buster’ munitions. Iran and its terrorist proxies across the region must never be able to threaten the U.S. or Israel with a nuclear weapon,” Gottheimer said in a news release.
The sale of bunker-buster munitions has long been suggested by pro-Israel organizations and scholars as a way to maintain Israel’s QME in the face of a nuclear Iran, including by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) and in a 2015 Washington Post op-ed by retired Gen. David Petraeus and former Ambassador Dennis Ross.
