Many people on social media were panicking over the weekend about a provision in the defense bill that would codify military cooperation between the United States and Israel.
Is that true? Is it in there?
It is.
Buried in the House version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act is Section 224: “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.”
“Section 224 would require the Secretary of Defense to designate an executive agent responsible for coordinating and synchronizing defense technology cooperation between the United States and Israel. That cooperation would include research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.”
Supporters say this simply formalizes and streamlines an already close military relationship. Oh really? Israel has never committed ground troops alongside any of the wars that it supported for U.S. involvement. Americans fought and died in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Israel did not.
The U.S. does collaborate with Israel on weapons, technology, and now mass surveillance, but this still remains a relationship in which the United States repeatedly commits blood, treasure, weapons, and diplomatic support while receiving little reciprocal military commitment in return.
Why does this have to be codified into U.S. defense? Why does there need to be one dedicated military person to make it happen? Why does this bill prioritize Israel over other partners, namely NATO partners?
This is not just cooperation. This will undoubtedly increase Israel’s leverage over U.S. policy and limit flexibility if for some reason the U.S. wakes up and decides that it does not want to support continued attacks on civilians. If only!
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