The US Senate is considering a measure that would force the president to expand intelligence sharing with Israel and make it harder for any administration to restrict Israeli access to American secrets, even amid growing concern in Washington over Israeli espionage against US officials.
Section 622 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, titled “United States-Israel Intelligence Sharing Enhancement”, would require the president, through the director of national intelligence and, when necessary, the secretary of defence, to “expand and enhance intelligence sharing with the Government of Israel”.
The bill was introduced by Israeli loyalist Senator Tom Cotton, the Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and one of Israel’s most hardline supporters in Congress.
The provision would cover a wide range of intelligence across the Middle East, including cyber threats, terrorism, sanctions evasion, missile threats, drones, air defence and the plans of governments and armed groups. In practice, critics say, it would give Israel broader access to sensitive US assessments on many of the region’s most important security issues.
READ: US Congress moves to fuse Israel’s war machine into American military system
