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<\/a><\/p>\nA view of a military plane which carries American armored SUVs landed in an airport in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 19, 2023. (Photo by Israeli Government Press Office \/ Handout\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a letter to congressional leadership and ranking committee members led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the lawmakers argued that the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, as currently written, would \u201cfurther entrench concerning aspects of the U.S.-Israel defense and intelligence relationship at a time when the Israeli government\u2019s actions are increasingly undermining U.S. interests and values.\u201d<\/p>\n
A section of the defense bill would require the secretary of defense to designate an \u201cexecutive agent responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, including bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such provisions \u201cwould constrain the Administration\u2019s ability\u201d to act independently and \u201cthreaten U.S. national security interests by handing Israel leverage over American weapons systems and military technology,\u201d the Democratic lawmakers warned, adding that the bill would also \u201ccreate long-term dependencies by embedding Israeli technology into the U.S. defense industrial base that could make future policy changes costly or difficult to implement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter \u2014 which was signed by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, among others \u2014 is the initiative of Van Hollen, who has emerged as one of Israel\u2019s fiercest critics in Congress and recently called to \u201cend the American taxpayer blank check to the government of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
His name has also been mentioned as a possible challenger to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader when the new Congress starts in early January.<\/p>\n
The letter comes just over a week after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would halt billions of dollars in annual aid to Israel by the end of 2026, potentially ending decades of military funding for one of America\u2019s closest allies in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The annual $3.8 billion sum is mostly spent in the U.S. to purchase weapon components or weapons systems manufactured in U.S. factories. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee noted the spending has created jobs in the United States. A memorandum of understanding between the two countries calls for that level of aid to continue through 2028.<\/p>\n
However, some U.S. critics have dismissed Trump\u2019s statement as a dodge, noting that while there is growing support for cutting defense aid to Israel, there has also been a push among some lawmakers to more tightly integrate the two countries\u2019 defense establishments.<\/p>\n
To do this \u201cwould be unwise, especially as the Government of Israel continues to pursue policies in Gaza, the West Bank and other parts of the region that are inconsistent with U.S. interests and values,\u201d the Democratic senators warned on Tuesday, arguing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had \u201copenly stated that such an initiative was his idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention behind this is clear: to move U.S. security assistance governed through more traditional pathways, like Foreign Military Financing and arm sales, to more opaque, less discernible avenues through defense acquisitions and programs of record that reduce transparency, as well as increase Israel\u2019s leverage over the United States and our dependency on Israeli technology,\u201d according to the letter..<\/p>\n
J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East advocacy group, thanked Van Hollen for his letter in a post on X, writing that there should be \u201cno deepening of our military relationship with Israel unless they comply with the Gaza peace agreement, end settler violence and reverse their de facto annexation of the West Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
J Street earlier this week declared that the U.S. \u201cneeds a fundamental reset of its approach to the Middle East,\u201d which would end offensive arms sales \u201cuntil it is confirmed that Israel is no longer violating U.S. laws and values.\u201d<\/p>\n