Israel–United States military relations
[2][3] The relationship has deepened gradually over time, though, as Alan Dowty puts it, it was "not a simple linear process of growing cooperation, but rather a series of tendentious bargaining situations with different strategic and political components in each.
[6] Following the Second World War, the “new postwar era witnessed an intensive involvement of the United States in the political and economic affairs of the Middle East, in contrast to the hands-off attitude characteristic of the prewar period.
[10] U.S. policy changed markedly after the Six-Day War of 1967, in response to a perception that many Arab states (notably Egypt) had permanently drifted toward the Soviet Union.
[citation needed] During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the U.S. mounted a major airlift codenamed Operation Nickel Grass to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel.
Over 22,000 tons of tanks, artillery, ammunition, and other materiel were delivered to aid the Israeli military in response to a large-scale Soviet resupply effort of the Arab states.
The operation was paralleled by a large-scale sealift of some 33,000 tons of materiel and the transfer of 40 F-4 Phantoms, 36 A-4 Skyhawks and twelve C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to replace Israeli war losses.
During the 2006 Lebanon War, the United States provided a major resupply of jet fuel and precision-guided munition to replenish depleted Israeli stocks.
The U.S. underwrites some of Israel's research and development of weapons, and has contributed significant amounts of money to Israeli defense projects such as the Merkava main battle tank and the IAI Lavi ground-attack aircraft.
[3] The U.S. and Israel also cooperate jointly on a number of technology development programs, notably the Arrow missile system and the Tactical High Energy Laser (also known as Nautilus).
[15] Currently the only active foreign military installations on Israeli soil are American bases, including an AN/TPY-2 early missile warning radar station on Mt.
[24] In October 2012, the United States and Israel began their biggest joint air and missile defense exercise, known as Austere Challenge 12, involving around 3,500 U.S. troops in the region along with 1,000 IDF personnel.
The Kirk-Menendez-Schumer bill would for the first time commit the United States to provide "diplomatic, military and economic" support for offensive actions by Israel.
[32] In December 2023, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a privileged resolution invoking Section 502(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act,[33] calling on the State Department to investigate Israeli crimes against humanity in its conduct of the war in Gaza.
[37] In July 2024, the Biden administration resumed shipments of the 500-pound bombs to Israel, which were halted in May due to concerns about the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
[38] In terms of total money received, Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of military assistance from the United States since World War II,[40] followed by Vietnam, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Turkey.
[46] Officials have insisted the aid is not tied, or meant to balance, simultaneous American plans to sell $20 billion worth of sophisticated arms to its Arab allies in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
[46] Former U.S. President George W. Bush assured Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the U.S. would help keep a "qualitative advantage" to Israel over other nations in the region.
[48] In December 2016, the United States delivered the first two F-35 “Adir” stealth fighter planes, a version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, arrived to Israel, the first of its kind in the Middle East.
[51][52] In October 2023, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass $14.3 billion in emergency military aid to Israel in its war with Hamas.
[55] In June 2024, the United States officially signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance, allowing Israel to purchase 25 additional Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets for $3 billion dollars.
[57] On 13 August 2024, the Department of State announced that the U.S. had approved a $20 billion weapons package sale to Israel, which included fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles.
[58] On Sunday, October 20, 2024, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the release of classified documents detailing Israel's plans to attack Iran, describing the revelations as "deeply troubling".
[67] Throughout 2009, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to conceal that Obama had imposed a virtual arms embargo on Israel.
Obama blocked all major Israeli weapons requests, including key projects and upgrades, linking arms sales to progress in the peace process.
[68] Prior to October 7, 2023, concerns centered mainly around Israel's occupation of the West Bank, continued settlement expansion, and evidence of human rights abuses by the Israeli military in the occupied territories.
A 2020 poll by J Street, a liberal Jewish lobby group, found that 57 percent of American Jews want to limit military aid to Israel to ensure it cannot pay for annexation.
