Trump prevails as Senate refuses to block UAE arms deals

Just a day after the House rebuffed him on a major defense bill, President Trump scored a major foreign policy victory as the Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected efforts to throw out a proposed $23 billion arms sale to the United Arab Emirates that is a key component of Mr. Trump’s Middle East strategy.

A push by Sens. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, and Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, to effectively block the sale of sophisticated drones and the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jet to the Gulf Arab nation was rejected on a 49-47 vote.

The massive sale involves 50 cutting-edge F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets valued at over $10 billion, 20 Reaper drones worth nearly $3 billion, and thousands of munitions.

It is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to bolster relations with Gulf countries who are willing to normalize relations with Israel, and to create a broad front to contain Iranian aggression.

But Israel and its allies on Capitol Hill expressed alarm about the UAE arms deal, fearing it could cut into Israel’s unquestioned military superiority in the region.

Opponents also noted the UAE’s role in the civil war in Yemen, which has produced a massive humanitarian crisis.

But Mr. Trump pushed hard for the sale, vowing to veto the resolutions if they passed Congress.

Opponents of Wednesday’s resolutions also pointed to the jobs and influence a $23 billion arms package would bring.

The sale “is not any kind of gift from the United States to the UAE, this is the UAE making a purchase totaling $23.5 billion for equipment that is made by American companies and almost always by American workers,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican.

In the end, Mr. Paul was the only Republican to buck the president on the arms deal. Arizona Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly voted to allow the drone sales and Ms. Sinema also voted against the resolution to block the F-35 deal.

Mr. Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he did not categorically oppose an upgraded military relationship with the UAE, but accused the administration of having”rushed through the interagency review of a sale of this magnitude” without consulting lawmakers.

“Do we really think we can sell this just to the UAE and not have those other countries come knocking on our door and start a very sophisticated arms race in the tinderbox of the world?” Mr. Menendez added.

Following the vote, Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who voted in favor of the resolutions, called on the White House to talk with Congress about protections for the U.S. and Israel “including provisions to ensure the security of American technology.”

“I am confident we can work out an acceptable set of protections, but I am unwilling to greenlight this arms sale until we do.”

Amnesty International also slammed the final vote count and said the sale could “act in a domino effect which ends in human tragedy as this country provides capabilities which risk being used to injure and kill thousands of Yemenis and Libyans in their homes, their schools, and their hospitals.”

In a policy statement, the White House argued that the deal is in line with U.S. foreign policy because it will allow “the UAE to deter increasing Iranian aggressive behavior and threats.”

Despite earlier reservations, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had moderated its opposition to the sale.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, said this week that Israel believes “that the UAE is an ally in confronting Iran, and we do not believe that this arms package will violate the U.S. commitment to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge.”

In an interview with MSNBC, the ambassador said that Israel is now “very comfortable” with the proposed sale and is more concerned by the U.S.’ potential return to the Iran nuclear deal under the incoming Biden administration than with the UAE acquiring F-35s.

The UAE government in a statement has also defended the sale, arguing that Abu Dhabi has “purchased & operated some of the most advanced U.S. defense systems. … [U.S. Air Force F-35] squadrons are based in the UAE. The UAE has never compromised or shared this technology with an adversary or without US knowledge and approval.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, has introduced similar resolutions in the House, but a vote has not been scheduled.

The Democratic-led House has previously approved resolutions blocking arms sales during Mr. Trump’s tenure, most notably to Saudi Arabia in 2019, but has consistently failed to gain enough backing to override a veto.