A little-noticed provision in next year’s defense bill has united an unusual coalition of progressive Democrats and conservatives, who warn that it would lock the United States into deeper military integration with Israel for years to come.
The measure, formally titled the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” is Section 224 of the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It would require the secretary of defense to designate an “executive agent” responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, including bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration and industrial cooperation.
It also calls for joint ventures, licensing agreements and co-production manufacturing partnerships with Israeli industry, as well as joint training exercises and information-sharing mechanisms. The cooperation would span counter-drone systems, missile defense, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber and electronic warfare, biotechnology and defense industrial production.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, urged followers this week to “defeat Section 224.” Former Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene warned that “once sec 224 passes, it will be next to impossible to be undone.”
Supporters say the provision formalizes decades of existing collaboration. Critics say it would permanently entwine the two countries’ defense industries with little oversight.
How It Reached the House Floor
The dispute comes as Congress takes up the broader $1.15 trillion defense bill. The House Armed Services Committee debated the measure during its June 4 markup, when California Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, introduced an amendment to strip Section 224. The amendment failed by a voice vote and the bill advanced to the full House. Only Khanna and California Representative Sara Jacobs, also a Democrat, backed the measure.
The provision did not originate in committee. Its text is derived from the U.S.-Israel FUTURES Act, sponsored by Texas Representative Ronny Jackson and North Carolina Representative Don Davis, and by North Carolina Senator Ted Budd and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. That bill stalled, and many of its provisions reappeared in the NDAA.
The timing has sharpened scrutiny. The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency recently raised its counterintelligence threat assessment of Israel to the highest level, citing concerns that Israeli espionage had become more aggressive than usual, according to U.S. officials cited by NBC News and The New York Times. The reports surfaced days before the vote.
Israel has pressed for a new framework as the Obama-era memorandum of understanding nears its 2028 expiration. The current agreement provides roughly $3.8 billion a year, totaling $38 billion over a decade. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, weighing in on Israel’s posture amid the conflict with Iran, wrote that the country faces “a moment of truth” and “must act with strength and effectiveness.” Israel, Bennett said, is “a sovereign state capable of defending itself.”
What Progressives Say
Sanders framed the provision as a giveaway to a foreign government over the objections of voters. “Netanyahu is lobbying for Section 224 in the national defense bill, a provision that quietly expands U.S.-Israel military cooperation and weapons development with almost zero oversight,” he wrote on X. “The American people do not want more U.S. military aid to Israel.”
Khanna argued during the markup that the measure rewards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a moment when lawmakers are questioning the relationship. “The American people are tired of the arrogance and insolence of Prime Minister Netanyahu telling America what we should do,” Khanna said.
Jacobs, the only other lawmaker to support the amendment, said the United States was moving in the wrong direction. “If any other country in the world had been credibly accused of violating US and international law again and again,” she said, “we would not be moving to deepen and permanently expand our military ties with them.”
Military experts described the provision as without clear precedent. Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel William Astore told The Intercept he could not recall another case of Congress formalizing the integration of critical national security technologies with a foreign power, citing the artificial intelligence and autonomous systems components as particular concerns.
What Conservatives Say
Greene cast the measure as an affront to American sovereignty, echoing the self-reliance language that Israel’s own leaders invoke. “If Israel is a sovereign state then it doesn’t need to be merged with America’s military in section 224 of the NDAA,” she wrote on X, “nor does it need a single penny of American tax dollars to fights its wars.” The provision, she added, would hand Israel “full control.”
In a separate post, Greene tied Section 224 to the espionage reports. “The Pentagon raised threat of Israeli spying on the U.S. to the highest level and AIPAC is openly cheering Republicans for section 224 in the NDAA that merges our military with Israel’s military,” she wrote. “Our government is being captured.”
Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican who lost his primary after pro-Israel groups funded his opponent, has pledged to offer a floor amendment to strike the section. “We are a sovereign country,” he wrote on social media.
What Section 224 Requires
The provision directs the secretary of defense to designate a single executive agent responsible for synchronizing U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation across 10 domains: counter-drone systems, anti-tunneling, missile and air defense, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber defense, biotechnology, network integration, defense industrial co-production and other emerging technologies agreed upon by both countries.
Key requirements:
- The Pentagon must publish periodic public updates on a Defense Department website
- The agent would identify Israeli-origin technologies for integration into U.S. military systems and establish frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements and co-production partnerships with Israeli industry
- The Pentagon must coordinate with the State Department, Commerce Department and other federal agencies to ensure compliance with existing law
- Within 180 days of enactment, the Pentagon must brief Congress on implementation; annual reports to Congress are required through 2030
- All reports must be submitted in unclassified form, though a classified annex is permitted
What Supporters Say
Backers reject the characterization that the provision merges the two militaries. Alabama Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican who introduced the bill with Washington Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat, said Section 224 “simply adds transparency and improves efficiency by designating a single official to coordinate existing initiatives,” adding that it surrenders no control over U.S. operations, personnel or equipment.
The provision’s sponsors have also disputed the claim that Netanyahu shaped the legislation. At the markup, Jackson said he never received a letter from the Israeli prime minister and called the suggestion “complete misinformation,” a denial Davis echoed. Khanna’s assertion traces to a letter Netanyahu sent to Marlin Stutzman, an Indiana Republican who does not sit on the committee, in support of a separate resolution to phase out U.S. military aid to Israel.
AIPAC said the provision “helps give America a strategic advantage by expanding our partnership with Israel” in areas it called central to 21st-century warfare. The group has said Section 224 creates no new programs and authorizes no new funding.
What Comes Next
The NDAA still must pass the full House, be reconciled with the Senate version, and be signed by the president before becoming law. Massie has said he will force the question again on the floor.
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