Democrats preview plan to roll back US-Israel defense integration

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Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is considering a bid for Senate majority leader against Sen. Chuck Schumer, led a group of Democratic lawmakers on November 10 in demanding that…

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is considering a bid for Senate majority leader against Sen. Chuck Schumer, led a group of Democratic lawmakers on November 10 in demanding that congressional leaders scrap a bipartisan effort to more closely integrate the American and Israeli militaries, warning the initiative would threaten US national security and risk further complicity in Israeli atrocities.

In a letter to Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, Van Hollen (D-Md.) and 11 other members of the Senate Democratic caucus demanded exclusion of three specific provisions from the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The letter warned they would “constrain the administration’s ability to independently determine how best to protect US national security and would lock in long-term commitments despite our serious concerns with the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and other parts of the region.” Schumer did not sign the new letter.

Two of the provisions raised in the letter — Section 1217 of the Senate-passed NDAA and Section 219 of the House version of the bill — would establish a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” aimed at accelerating “bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, coordination, and industrial cooperation.”

Lawmakers from both chambers must reconcile the differences between the House and Senate NDAAs before final passage, creating another opportunity for opponents of US-Israel military integration to strip out the provisions.

The senators warned in their Tuesday letter that the “agreements and projects these provisions envision threaten U.S. national security interests by handing Israel leverage over American weapons systems and military technology.”

“Should these provisions be enacted, it would further increase Israel’s leverage over the United States through some of the most sensitive technologies in warfare.

“If enacted, these agreements would create…

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