The Biden administration’s recent decision to pause an arms sale to Israel elicited predictable reactions from advocates for both sides of the Gaza War represented in the United States, and while that decision did not stop other arms shipments to Israel, it underscores the political significance of arms sales as an instrument of US foreign policy and intervention in foreign conflicts. Joe Biden’s Department of State recommended the pause in arms sales over concerns that Israel may have breached international law in conducting the war without due care for noncombatant casualties. I am not going to weigh the evidence here; instead, I consider this decision as a reminder of the legal, political, and moral implications of US arms sales to foreign governments.In

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