US Turned Down Israeli Request To Deliver Refueling Jets, Needed To Strike Iran

The Biden administration has turned down a request by Israel to speed up the delivery of two refueling jets, which Israel would need in order to strike nuclear sites in Iran. Israel some two months ago asked the US to expedite the delivery of two Boeing KC-46 refueling jets, of four that were ordered, the Israeli news site Ynet first reported. The New York Times reported that Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz asked about speeding up the delivery when he met last week in Washington with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Austin reportedly told Gantz that there is a backlog of orders for the jets, including an order from the US military. The jets will not be ready until late 2024. Gantz reportedly told Austin and Blinken that he had ordered Israel’s military to draw up new plans to destroy Iranian nuclear sites, to be used if diplomacy fails. The US reportedly did not object to such plans. The refueling jets are needed to replace the ones Israel currently has, which are over 50 years old. Israeli fighter jets would have to travel over 600 miles in each direction in order to mount such an attack on Iran’s nuclear program.