US lawmakers seek to 'fuse' Israeli, US militaries under 2027 defense authorization act

The legislation calls for nearly $1.4 trillion in defense spending and would expand Israeli influence over the US Congress and military

Lawmakers in Washington are quietly moving to integrate the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways, according to a clause in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released earlier this week.

Section 224 of the NDAA, entitled “United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” proposes bilateral defense research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and other US-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation.

If implemented, the initiative would “arguably do more to intertwine the US military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the US since its founding in 1948,” Responsible Statecraft (RS) wrote. It is “the first step towards shifting aid further into the shadows” and “would all but fuse the two countries' armed forces together,” RS added.

Section 224 of the NDAA calls for expanded US–Israeli coordination in the areas of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, and biotech.

It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion,” which would allow Israel to access the US military's data.

If implemented, the measures would give the Israeli government expanded influence over the US political system. “By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on US soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie,” RS concluded.