The night of Dec. 8, the U.S. State Department transmitted what is described as an emergency declaration to the House and Senate Committees with oversight over foreign arms sales, for the purpose of evading the usual protocol in which lawmakers have 20 days to review details of U.S. sale of weapons and ammunition abroad. This is out in the media, though not officially admitted as yet. The two Committees are the House Foreign Affairs and the Senate Foreign Relations.
CNN today reports that Congress had been under pressure all week to approve the sale of 45,000 shells to Israel for its Merkava tanks. The State Department action last night was to expedite approval for the sale of 13,000 of these tank shells, valued in the range of $106 million. There are reports that the shipment is ready to go, and may even be on its way.
