12 U.S. Senators Press to Strip 3 Israel Provisions from Defense Bill
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MENAFN“As you prepare to conference the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we respectfully urge you to exclude three provisions from the final bill that would further entrench concerning aspects of the U.S.-Israel defense and intelligence relationship at a time when the Israeli government’s actions are increasingly undermining U.S. interests and values,” the lawmakers wrote in a joint letter.
The signatories include Chris Van Hollen, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. They argued the provisions would “constrain the Administration’s ability to independently determine how best to protect U.S. national security” and bind Washington to open-ended commitments, even as concerns mount over Israeli military operations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and across the region.
The letter singles out Section 1217 of the Senate Armed Services Committee bill and Section 219 of the House-passed version, both of which would require creation of a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.” The program would speed up joint production, technology transfers and shared research in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cyberwarfare, biotechnology and autonomous systems.
The senators cautioned that the United States does not routinely share or co-produce technology in such sensitive areas of warfare, even with treaty allies like NATO members. They also stressed that President Donald Trump already has authority under current law to negotiate bilateral agreements without a mandate from Congress.
Closer integration, the lawmakers warned, would give Israel leverage over American military assets. They cited the Israeli government’s earlier use of co-production terms on missile defense to block the transfer of American Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine, and said the initiative would embed Israeli technology in the US defense industrial base, making any future change in policy costly.
The letter further noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly claimed credit for the framework, which he said would move defense ties “from aid to partnership.” The senators warned that the approach aims to replace transparent Foreign Military Financing channels with opaque defense acquisitions. They pointed in particular to Netanyahu’s boasts of having sought a confrontation with Iran for decades, a war the lawmakers described as a “strategic disaster” for American interests.
The group also demanded the removal of Section 618 from the intelligence authorization title, which would require expanded intelligence sharing with Israel and bar the executive branch from suspending, reducing or materially limiting that cooperation.
Restricting the president’s ability to adjust intelligence sharing would be “irresponsible,” the senators argued, especially after public disclosures that the Defense Intelligence Agency recently raised its assessment of the counterintelligence threat from Israel to its “highest level.”
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