The US Congress is quietly advancing a measure that would entrench Israel inside the American military-industrial complex, raising concerns that Washington is moving to lock itself into Tel Aviv’s future wars at a time when Israel is becoming a global pariah.
The House version of the 2027 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a provision titled the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative”. Known as Section 224, it would require the US secretary of defence to designate an official responsible for coordinating defence technology cooperation between the US and Israel. The provision covers bilateral research, development, testing, evaluation, integration and industrial cooperation.
Read: What military support does the US provide Israel?
Responsible Statecraft reported that the clause would go far beyond the existing US-Israel military aid relationship. It would lay the groundwork for joint weapons development, co-production, licensing agreements, military-industrial joint ventures and deep cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, biotechnology and other advanced warfare sectors.
The report also warned that references to “network integration” and “data fusion” could mean US military data becoming increasingly accessible to Israel’s military establishment.
