Photo by Tim Sheerman-Chase
Supporters of Israel have inserted language in the current US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would deeply intertwine the US and Israeli militaries. The language commits to bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements and an unprecedented integration of the US and Israeli weapons industries. This was spurred by declining public support for ending US military aid to Israel due to Israeli atrocities in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, and the fact that the MOU for the $3.9 Billion that US provides to Israel expires in 2028.
The NDAA’s section 224, entitled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” would arguably do more to intertwine the U.S. military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the U.S. since its founding in 1948.
Section 224 of NDAA reduces public oversight and transparency, gives Israel lasting leverage over US defense policy and priorities, and elevates US-Israel relationship over bilateral relationships with any other country. If US funding of Israel shifts from State Department auspices to the Pentagon, there will be serious implications for public advocacy and Congressional scrutiny of Israel’s behavior. The Leahy law would no longer apply, and holding Israel accountable would be even more arduous than it is today. It would also be increasingly difficult to find out just how much taxpayer support Israel is receiving, while that amount is likely to grow ever larger under the “partnership” approach.
This is not alliance with a talented and responsible ally that will help keep the US safe, but a trap being set by Israel and its lobby to bind our country to a state that, for all its past promise, has gone rogue. According to The Washington Post, Netanyahu embraced the new approach. He had called it “my plan” in a letter he wrote to Stutzman on June 1 thanking him for his “enthusiastic support” for the idea.
Although the NDAA passed the House Armed Service Committee last week, there was a backlash with Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California) and others calling for this section to be stripped from the defense budget. The House is expected to take up the bill by the July recess. The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to mark up its version next week. There will still be opportunities over the next few months to oppose this amendment.
What we can do:
Join A New Policy. A New Policy is a nonprofit and nonpartisan lobbying organization dedicated to forging a new US policy toward Israel and Palestine that improves the lives of Americans and people across the Middle East. A New Policy was founded by Josh Paul and Tariq Habash, two Americans who courageously resigned from government over the Biden Administration’s disgraceful policy toward Gaza. A New Policy is following the NDAA as it goes through congress and using the skill of their staff are keeping members of their Advocacy program informed and helping us oppose this.
You can join A New Policy from their website at www.anewpolicy.org. You can join the advocacy program here: https://www.anewpolicy.org/advocacy. A New Policy hosts zoom meetings for an hour twice a month with updates, and you can join the Signal group.
In addition to working on the NDAA, the A New Policy Website has an extensive legislative tracker for bills in congress that they support and oppose.
You can also use this tool from US Campaign for Palestinian Rights to tell Congress to stop the U.S.-Israel military integration & fund care, not killing:
The U.S. and Israel are trying to combine their militaries into a catastrophic imperialist force to produce deadly weapons and technology together. The House Armed Services Committee buried this dangerous proposal inside the annual military spending bill, the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, which carries a total price tag over $1 trillion. The bill now heads to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The proposal—Section 224—would arguably be more valuable to Israel than the billions in military funding the U.S. has been providing. It would mean integrating U.S. and Israeli weapons research, production, technology, and military operations. It would make U.S. complicity permanent, while Israel quietly negotiates another 10-year military funding commitment from the U.S. Our tax dollars should fund care for our communities, not killing. Tell Congress: Stop fueling forever wars and end all forms of U.S. complicity in Israel’s massive violence. Send your message here.
In conclusion, my deepest concern is that if this passes into law, the US would be permanently drawn into even wider illegal wars and complicity with violations of International Law and Human Rights Violations. It would be very unlikely, if not impossible to change this.
Sources and more information:
1) The Time For a U.S. Arms Embargo on Israel Is Now. By Josh Ruebner. May 29, 2026. Mondoweiss.
2) Congress Quietly Moves To Integrate Us And Israeli Militaries In The First Step Towards Shifting Aid Further Into The Shadows, The House's 2027 Ndaa Would All But Fuse The Two Countries' Armed Forces Together. Ben Freeman. May 29, 2026. Responsible Statecraft. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-us-military/.
3) Congress wants to tie the United States to Israel with this new legislation. It’s a trap. Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick. The Guardian.