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In the wake of Hamas' surprise attack on Oct. 7, U.S. leaders reaffirmed the long-standing strategic and military alliance with Israel — but political disagreements have delayed a new security assistance package.
Driving the news: President Biden requested at least $14.3 billion in additional assistance to Israel, which would include money for air and missile defense systems, including the Iron Dome.
State of play on Biden's funding request
- The dominant dispute within Congress is whether to fulfill Biden's request to tie aid to Israel to additional security assistance for Ukraine, as well as border security funding.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) is attempting to match Biden's Israeli aid request, but without pairing it with Ukraine aid. He also wants to strip an equal amount in IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
- That approach is opposed by many Democrats, some Republicans and Biden, who has said he will veto any stand-alone Israel-funding bill.
✓ Note: Complicating the situation further is the fact the U.S. is heading toward yet another government funding deadline after just narrowly averting a shutdown in September.
75 years of support
Though the timing of a new security package remains unclear, the U.S. is by far the biggest supplier of military aid to Israel, contributing around $130 billion since its founding.
- With the U.S.' help, Israel has formed one of the most formidable and technologically advanced militaries in the Middle East.
- Both Republican and Democratic administrations and bipartisan leaders in Congress have approved aid to Israel over several decades.
- In return, the U.S. has cultivated a strategic military ally in the Middle East.
- As part of an agreement reached under the Obama administration, Israel receives $3.8 billion annually for its military and missile defense systems.
- Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign military financing, which has represented around 15% of the country's defense budget in recent years.
What the U.S. provides
Most U.S. assistance comes in the form of weapons grants, and more than 80% of Israel's weapons imports came from the U.S. between 1950 and 2020.
- Israel is also given access to the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
- In addition to the aid, Israel and the U.S. have conducted several military drills together, holding their largest one ever in January 2023.
- The two countries also share intelligence with each other, though the extent of the cooperation has shifted multiple times in recent years.
Economic assistance tapers off
The U.S. heavily supported Israel's economy over several decades, helping it become a key economic ally, with trade between the two countries reaching nearly $50 billion annually.
- Actual economic aid tapered off starting in the 1990s as the country's tech sector boomed and it was "considered a fully industrialized nation."
- The two countries share strong cultural ties, as well.
- Outside of Israel, the U.S. is home to the largest Jewish population in the world.
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Israel May Increase Defense Spending by $8 Billion Next Year
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An Israeli soldier directs a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Dec. 25.
Photographer: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty ImagesIsrael will need to increase defense spending by at least 30 billion shekels ($8.3 billion) next year, according to the Finance Ministry, as the war against Hamas rages on.
The ministry, in a document presented to parliament on Monday, said the overall 2024 budget will probably have to total 562 billion shekels, compared to 513 billion when the spending plan was first approved last May.
✓ As well as the military spending, the ministry said an additional 10 billion shekels will be required to cover the evacuation of around 120,000 people from Israel’s northern and southern border areas, higher budgets for police and other security services, and the reconstruction of settlements destroyed during Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7.
The projections underscore the high financial cost of the war for Israel, which has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists for its ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the south, and deployed more troops in the north to counter threats from Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon.
It’s using huge numbers of costly missiles for its airstrikes in Gaza and to intercept rockets and drones fired into Israeli territory.
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