A Democratic Congressman has concerns about the Trump Administration’s plans to sell $110 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia: it could make Israel’s military relatively less powerful.
“Can you provide the committee with an assurance that the State Department will closely scrutinize any proposed sales to ensure that they do not adversely impact Israel’s qualitative military edge?” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) asked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday.
Sherman also asked about State overseeing the deal to prohibit the sale of F-35 jet-fighters to Saudi Arabia. He did not mention the Saudi Government’s war in Yemen—an ongoing military campaign that has led to widespread atrocities and mass starvation.
Tillerson replied, saying that the Trump administration “will ensure that all of those sales meet all of our obligations both to Israel and to others.” The exchange occurred before the House Foreign Relations Committee.
It has been US law to try to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge since 2008.
A Republican Congressman did raise concerns about US arms sales to Saudi Arabia based on practices of the Saudi government itself.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) asked Tillerson about US monitoring of the Saudi government’s “continued support of the exportation” of extremist fundamentalist ideology.
Tillerson replied by noting the recent establishment of the “center to counter extreme Muslim messaging”–an organization inaugurated last month by President Trump, Saudi King Salman, and Egypt’s military ruler, Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi.
“The center has a number of elements to attack extremism around the world,” Tillerson said.
“One of the elements,” he elaborated, “is to publish new textbooks that go into the schools that are in the mosques around the world.”
“These textbooks are to replace the textbooks that are out there today that do advocate extreme Wahhabism,” Tillerson said.
He added that the administration is currently working with the Saudi government “and others” to establish success metrics, “as we bring this center up to an operating level.”
