The partial U.S. arms embargo on Israel is affecting the battlefield in Gaza and Lebanon and could endanger IDF soldiers, according to a Ynet report, citing Israeli security officials.
In recent months, the U.S. has silently halted various arms shipments to the country but continues to support Israel in other ways, including a large-scale deal to acquire around 1,000 new APCs. However a critical shipment of 134 Caterpillar bulldozers, which Israel ordered and paid for but are awaiting export approval from the U.S. State Department in Washington, has been delayed.
The use of these bulldozers primarily for flattening structures in the Gaza Strip has led to significant internal criticism in the U.S., protests and intense pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, which has relented and frozen deliveries for several months.
The impact on the battlefield is already apparent in both the Gaza and Lebanese combat sectors: Ynet’s inquiry showed that many of the existing D9 bulldozers, heavily used in the IDF maneuver in Gaza for months, break down frequently and require maintenance. Additionally, the IDF has been engaged in a new ground operation in southern Lebanon, where these bulldozers are also needed.
“At the height of the fighting in Gaza, about a year ago, battalion commanders were ‘fighting’ between them over D9 bulldozers; now they need maintenance,” say commanders leading the fighting in Gaza.
The IDF has not directly linked the deadly outcomes of the raid in Jabaliya — in which 21 soldiers were killed, many due to explosive devices — to the number of D9 bulldozers allocated for operations, but hinted at their effectiveness in saving lives.
“The bulldozers in these operations often lead the brigade’s combat teams, clearing ‘contaminated’ areas from explosive charges intended to detonate against infantry and armor troops. However, it’s clear that these machines aren’t only operationally effective against terror tunnels and in urban areas but also help save soldiers’ lives.
Forces on the northern front are required to clear thousands of acres of dense thicket which Hezbollah uses to conceal bunkers and weapons depots close to Israeli towns while preparing to invade the Galilee. For this effort as well, the caterpillar D9s are much more efficient, saving time and investment in alternatives.
The halt to bulldozer deliveries will likely delay another significant operation by IDF Southern Command that remains incomplete: establishing a one-kilometer-wide buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and the western Negev, on the Gazan side of the border — involving the leveling of hundreds of Palestinian buildings and agricultural lands.
A substantial portion of these buildings has already been razed to the ground, but the operation is still incomplete. The U.S. has vehemently opposed this action, mirroring its anger over the ongoing demolition of thousands of Palestinian structures in Gaza on a daily basis. “The fact there are videos of American D9 bulldozers demolishing homes in Gaza isn’t helpful, but it’s a necessity,” IDF sources said. “These homes were used and could potentially be used by terrorists.”
In addition to using bulldozers, the IDF employs several other alternatives, some of which are more costly. These include controlled blasts using thousands of tons of various explosives and targeted airstrikes to demolish buildings, though these are used more sparingly. This restrained approach is due to the need to manage munitions as the fighting expands and persists across seven active fronts.
Another reason lies in the fact that the U.S. is still freezing the shipment of around 1,300 munitions purchased by Israel from Boeing — paid in shekels rather than with U.S. aid funds — each weighing nearly a ton, citing similar concerns that the IDF could use them against civilian populations.
Half of this shipment, which was frozen in May ago by the Biden administration, has been released and delivered to the IDF, but the other half remains in U.S. warehouses. Israel is also renting engineering equipment from private contractors to support field operations.
The delay in delivering the bulldozers and heavy munitions adds to the opposition from Washington to the purchase of Apache attack helicopters earlier this year. At first, the Americans rejected Israel’s urgent requests to supply the Air Force with high-maneuverability attack helicopters.
Later, Washington also opposed diverting part of the hundreds of new helicopters ordered from Boeing for the U.S. Army to Israel, a measure sometimes customary in such cases. “Not all U.S. defense officials are completely on our side. While the administration has significantly increased aid by billions of dollars, sending tens of thousands of munitions and various armaments to the IDF, they’re still giving us a ‘penalty’ in the form of these embargos,” defense sources told Ynet.
“There are officials in the U.S. State Department, the White House and Joint Chiefs of Staff who aren’t quick to approve every one of our requests, in addition to the similar aid the U.S. has pledged to provide Ukraine in its war with Russia,” the sources added.
However, the IDF is encouraged by another significant purchase the Americans have approved for ground forces: a dramatic increase in the acquisition of JLTVs, or Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.
Around 300 vehicles were ordered initially, dozens of which have already arrived for the IDF, but this has now been expanded to approximately 1,000 vehicles. These fast-wheeled armored personnel carriers will replace the older M-113 APCs and will likely be deployed beyond the exclusive use of elite units.
These large JLTVs will be outfitted with 30 mm cannons and remotely operated machine guns, with the deal’s cost estimated to reach about NIS 4 billion (approximately $1.1 billion).
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