cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47506853
The legislation calls for nearly $1.4 trillion in defense spending and would expand Israeli influence over the US Congress and military
Lawmakers in Washington are quietly moving to integrate the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways, according to a clause in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released earlier this week.
Section 224 of the NDAA, entitled “United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” proposes bilateral defense research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and other US-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation.
If implemented, the initiative would “arguably do more to intertwine the US military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the US since its founding in 1948,” Responsible Statecraft (RS) wrote. It is “the first step towards shifting aid further into the shadows” and “would all but fuse the two countries’ armed forces together,” RS added.
Section 224 of the NDAA calls for expanded US–Israeli coordination in the areas of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, and biotech.
It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion,” which would allow Israel to access the US military’s data.
If implemented, the measures would give the Israeli government expanded influence over the US political system. “By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on US soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie,” RS concluded.
Ukraine right now is at the forefront of modern warfare innovation. Despite being small and embattled, larger countries are coming to Ukraine to learn what they are doing with the latest drone tech. For Ukraine, this is a real, everyday, life or death battle and they have been thrust to the cutting edge of what’s possible by this. They are also very smart and making the most of it.
Meanwhile the US is fat and slow and sheltered, invested in the warfare of decades past. So the US has a lot to gain from watching closely what’s going on or even having a formal security partnership with Ukraine to learn first hand.
If the US goes a whole generation without major military conflict, it will literally forget how to do it and lose its edge. It will have no battle hardened commanders and all its tactics will be decades old. I believe this is one reason the US starts so many conflicts. Its whole empire is built on its military might and that sword needs to stay sharp.
What does this have to do with Israel?
Well, I want to avoid direct comparisons between Ukraine and Israel, because one is an innocent nation that’s been brutally invaded and the other is an aggressive religious ethnostate carved out of other people’s lands and maintained through force, brutality and espionage.
But let’s just say that Israel, too, is very active in warfare, counter terrorism, and espionage. Remember their scheme with the exploding pagers? When’s the last time the US pulled off something like that?
The US wants to learn from Israel. Like Ukraine, Israel is full of smart people who are living it every day and pushing the boundaries. You don’t get into top condition without real experience and pressure, exercise. Israel has that in a way the US does not.
This is one factor. There are many others including the wackadoodle religion stuff. But this is one factor I did not see mentioned yet.