The Biden administration has provided Israel with at least $17.9 billion in military aid since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack last year and spent at least another $4.86 billion on its fight against Yemen’s Houthis, according to a new report released on Monday.

• However, the latest report was completed before the Pentagon announced additional troop and asset deployments to the Middle East last week, as well as the start of another Israeli invasion of Lebanon. 

Those are expected to cost the US hundreds of millions, if not billions.
The report also did not include US efforts last week that helped Israel foil the largest-ever Iranian attack that included nearly 200 missiles. 

Rough estimates suggest the attack cost north of $100 million, which saw the US use around 12 Standard Missiles.
The report was published by Brown University.

Some of the weapons delivered over the last year included artillery shells, 2,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, and precision-guided bombs. 

• Replenishments for Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling used for missile defense made up another big chunk of the US aid.

“The patchwork government reporting on US military aid to Israel contrasts sharply with the treatment of military aid to Ukraine, where dollar amounts, channels of delivery, and specific systems supplied (including how many) are routinely reported in government-supplied fact sheets on a regular basis,” the study said.

United States Spending on Israel’s Military Operations and Related U.S. Operations in the Region, October 7, 2023-September 30, 2024

U.S. spending on Israel’s military operations and related U.S operations in the region total at least $22.76 billion and counting. This estimate is conservative; while it includes approved security assistance funding since October 7, 2023, supplemental funding for regional operations, and an estimated additional cost of operations, it does not include any other economic costs.

This figure includes the $17.9 billion the U.S. government has approved in security assistance for Israeli military operations in Gaza and elsewhere since October 7 – substantially more than in any other year since the U.S. began granting military aid to Israel in 1959. Yet the report describes how this is only a partial amount of the U.S. financial support provided during this war.

Related U.S. military operations in the broader region since October 7 are part of the fuller picture. In particular, the U.S. Navy has significantly scaled up its defensive and offensive operations against Houthi militants in Yemen, which the Houthis claim is related to Israel’s war in Gaza. Hostilities have escalated to become the most sustained military campaign by U.S. forces since the 2016-2019 air war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. U.S. operations in the region, including in Yemen, have already cost the U.S. government $4.86 billion (included in the overall figure, above, of $22.76 billion).

This Houthi-related conflict has also cost the maritime trade an additional $2.1 billion, because shippers have been forced to divert vessels or pay exorbitant insurance fees. U.S. consumers may experience paying higher prices for goods as a result.

This report touches on the relationship between U.S. weapons manufacturers and the Israeli government, which have maintained longstanding commercial relations. The U.S. government has cited these commercial ties as one of the reasons why the U.S. should continue to supply foreign militaries, including the Israeli military, with weapons and equipment.

READ FULL PAPER >

Read the related paper, The Human Toll: Indirect Deaths from War in Gaza and the West Bank, October 7, 2023 Forward >

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