Lawmakers quarrel over effort to boost defense tech integration between US and Israel 

A measure included in the House’s version of the fiscal 2027 defense bill calls for more integration between U.S. and Israeli defense technology sectors — an idea that is receiving pushback before the bill goes up for debate Thursday.

The United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative, part of the House’s edition of the National Defense Authorization Act released last week, would “expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation,” according to the bill.

The measure was introduced by Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., the chairman and ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. It calls for the defense secretary to designate an executive agent to synchronize cooperate efforts between the two countries.

Congress has a decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for Israel, and following Hamas’ deadly attack on Oct. 7, 2023, the United States sent $13.4 billion in military aid to the country.

U.S. and Israeli defense companies also cooperate on weapons development and manufacturing, including collaboration between U.S.-based RTX and Israel’s Rafael Systems on Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

The directive for further technological integration between the U.S. and Israeli militaries comes as the two countries pursue a war on Iran, which is proving to be unpopular, according to nationwide polls.

Ben Freeman, the director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute, wrote in Responsible Statecraft that the NDAA provision would greatly expand the existing cooperation between the U.S. and Israel by promoting joint research and development on cyber defense, machine learning, unmanned systems, data integration and more.

Reps. Ro Khanna of, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., have both spoken out against the effort. The two lawmakers united last year to introduce the Iran War Powers Resolution.

Massie, who recently lost his Republican primary to a challenger closely aligned with President Donald Trump — and his administration’s position on Israel — said in a message on social media, “If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I’ll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor.”

Massie appeared concerned that such a level of integration would infringe on U.S. sovereignty.

Khanna, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, backed Massie on social media, posting that he would introduce an amendment to strip the measure out of the final House version of the NDAA.

Rogers defended the measure Tuesday, posting on social media that it “simply adds transparency and improves efficiency by designating a single official to coordinate existing initiatives.”

“In no way does it give away command and control of our military operations, personnel, or equipment,” he said.

The House Armed Services Committee is set to debate the measure as part of its markup of the NDAA on Thursday morning. The bill is then expected to go to the full House for a vote.