Twelve US senators challenge key provisions in Israel defence cooperation bill

Résumé détaillé

Lawmakers target Section 1217 of the Senate Armed Services Committee bill and Section 219 of the House-passed measure, which would boost co-production, technology transfers and joint research across AI and cyberwarfare.

Twelve US senators have urged congressional leaders to remove three provisions from a compromise defence bill that would expand defence technology cooperation and intelligence sharing with Israel.

"As you prepare to conference the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), we respectfully urge you to exclude three provisions from the final bill that would further entrench concerning aspects of the US-Israel defence and intelligence relationship at a time when the Israeli government's actions are increasingly undermining US interests and values," the lawmakers wrote in a joint letter on Tuesday.

The senators, including Chris Van Hollen, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, argued that the disputed clauses would "constrain the Administration's ability to independently determine how best to protect US national security" and lock Washington into indefinite commitments despite Israel's genocide in Gaza, its actions in the occupied West Bank and the wider region.

The letter particularly targets Section 1217 of the Senate Armed Services Committee bill and Section 219 of the House-passed measure, which mandate establishing a "United States-Israel Defence Technology Cooperation Initiative."

The programme would accelerate bilateral co-production, technology transfers and joint research across artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cyberwarfare, biotechnology and autonomous systems.

Lawmakers warned that Washington does not routinely share or co-produce technologies in these sensitive warfare domains, even with treaty allies such as NATO members.

They emphasised that President Donald Trump already possesses authority under existing statutes to negotiate bilateral accords without a congressional mandate.

The senators stressed that deep integration would hand Israel leverage over American military assets.

They pointed to the Israeli government's prior use of co-production terms on missile defence to block the transfer of American Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine…

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