Rights groups push US lawmakers to drop provision for deeper defense ties with Israel

Dozens of civil rights and advocacy groups are urging Congress to scrap a defense bill provision that would deepen US-Israeli military technology ties, according to a letter seen by Reuters, at a time of growing US skepticism toward the longtime ally.

The provision would deepen cooperation between the US and Israeli defense sectors by accelerating joint military technology development and other partnerships. The bill passed the House of Representatives in July and awaits Senate action.

The provision of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, known as Section 219, seeks to set up frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements and US-based co-production partnerships with the Israeli industry.

In Thursday’s letter addressed to leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, 56 groups say deeper integration with Israel’s defense sector will be “exceptionally dangerous” and urge lawmakers to remove the provision.

The groups include Amnesty International USA and the civil rights network National Lawyers Guild as well as Arab and Jewish advocacy groups.

“At a time in which American interests are increasingly diverging from those of Israel, and American public opinion is turning increasingly against unconditional support to Israel, creating new points of influence for Israel in the US defense-technology ecosystem is exceptionally dangerous,” says the letter, which hasn’t been previously reported.

Israel is one of Washington’s closest allies in the Middle East, and the two countries cooperate extensively on defense and intelligence issues. Supporters say deeper ties could help speed military innovation and technology development.

A spokesperson from the Israeli Embassy in Washington doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a May interview with CBS that he hoped to wean Israel off U.S. military support within a decade. In a June letter to a US congressman he wrote that the time has come for Israel “to move from aid recipient to partner.”

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen told Reuters that it was not in US national interests to deepen such cooperation with the Netanyahu government.

“This provision … threatens to compromise sensitive technologies and, based on our prior experience, risks giving the Government of Israel the ability to interfere in US defense decisions,” Van Hollen says.