DOD official: U.S. 'surging' air defense assets, munitions to Israel

The U.S. government is "surging support to Israel, that includes air defense and munitions," according to a senior Defense Department official.

"Planes have already taken off and we anticipate the continual delivery of some of the requests Israel has made," the official said during a Pentagon background briefing this afternoon.

"We remain in constant and ongoing contact with our counterparts in Israel to determine and then support their most urgent requirements," the official added.

While the official wouldn't go into details about what specific equipment was being supplied, "the bottom line is we are working as fast as possible to provide critically needed munitions of various types and other equipment."

The Pentagon is also "contacting U.S. industry to gain expedited shipment of pending Israeli orders for military equipment that otherwise may have been considered routine for movement," the official said.

Further, the department is also "working across the DOD enterprise including with U.S. Central Command to assess what munitions and other equipment are in the U.S. inventory that . . . can be made quickly available for Israel. All of [these] are actions that we are undertaking within our existing authority and appropriations."

When asked whether the Pentagon can maintain aiding both Israel as well as Ukraine, the official said: "We are able to continue our support both to Ukraine, Israel and maintain our own global readiness."

Given that the Pentagon is operating under a stopgap continuing resolution that only lasts through next month, the official called the situation "a clarifying moment in which we would welcome working in a bipartisan manner with Congress and the executive branch to ensure that we're sending a signal to allies and partners across the world that our government, both parties and both branches of our government are working together to ensure that appropriate authority and appropriations are available to support and respond to crises and contingencies."