Introduction – Feb 13, 2025

Presidents Bush, Obama and Biden had all declined earlier requests from Israel for the weapon and during his first term President Trump had also denied an Israeli request but he now appears to have relented.

Officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) or colloquially, the Mother of All Bombs, the bomb is the biggest in the U.S. arsenal. Weighing 11 tons and measuring 30 foot in length, it is specifically designed for use against underground facilities and tunnels, such as those at Iran’s nuclear facilities.

With the provision of this weapon President Trump appears to be equipping Israel with exactly the weapon it needs to carry out its long threatened strike on Iran.

Is this why Trump is looking for some sort of way out of the military morass that Ukraine has become? Does he want to concentrate his efforts on bringing regime change to Tehran, using Israel to do fighting? Ed.
Is US sending Israel the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB)?! – Here’s what to know
Gila Isaacson – JFEED.com Feb 9, 2025

In a dramatic shift of U.S. foreign policy, the Pentagon is set to equip Israel with the massive GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bombs, potentially signaling a direct challenge to Iran‘s nuclear ambitions.

Steve Witkoff, U.S. special representative for the Middle East, confirmed the game-changing weapons transfer during high-level talks. The 11-ton “Mother of All Bombs” represents a strategic pivot in U.S. support for Israel, with a laser-focused objective: neutralizing Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities.

Israel has been requesting these powerful bombs since the early 2000s, facing repeated rejections from previous administrations. Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden all declined the request, and even Trump initially withheld approval. Now, the landscape has dramatically changed.

Military analysts warn that Iran could potentially become the world’s tenth nuclear power this year. The MOAB‘s extraordinary destructive capability—able to demolish deep underground complexes—provides Israel with a critical strategic advantage.

In the Oval Office, President Trump addressed growing tensions, revealing credible intelligence about an alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guards assassination plot against him. His response was unequivocal: “If they do something like that, they will be destroyed. I have given my instructions; nothing will be left.”

The transfer of the massive ordnance air blast weapon signals a potentially seismic shift in the Middle East, with the potential to dramatically alter the delicate balance of power between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

The decision to provide Israel with the GBU-43/B—colloquially known as the “Mother of All Bombs”—appears calculated to send a clear, unambiguous signal about the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security and its willingness to take extraordinary measures in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions

https://www.jfeed.com/news-israel/sretab