Israel wants US to bolster its weapons stockpile in Israel: Sources | Jan. 14, 2022 |

The stockpile is meant for US use, but weapons can be quickly transferred to Israeli forces in the event of an emergency

Israel has prepared a list of weapons systems it intends to ask the US to add to the American emergency stockpile in Israel as a precaution for future regional conflicts, according to defense sources here.

The list is highly classified, but sources said it includes aerial munitions that Israel predicts would be needed if the military takes action against Iranian nuclear facilities or defends against rocket salvos from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The War Reserves Stock Allies stockpile, established in the 1980s, allows the US to "stockpile arms and equipment at Israeli bases for American use in wartime," according to a US Congressional Research Service report (pdf), and has included missiles, armored vehicles and artillery ammunition. Later the US amended the rules for the stockpile, saying Israel could have direct access "in emergency situations," and weapons could be transferred through significantly streamlined Foreign Military Sales channels.

"Officially, all this equipment belongs to the US military," an Israeli officer is quoted as saying in the 2020 CRS report. "If, however, there is a conflict, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] can ask permission to use some of the equipment."

That's happened at least twice, according to CRS: once during the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and once in 2014 for an Israeli operation against Hamas. (The US also simulated a stockpile weapons transfer for a bilateral military exercise in 2019.)