US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday urged congressional lawmakers to strike a highly controversial provision from next year\u2019s military spending authorization bill that is aimed at deepening integration of the US and Israeli armed forces under the guise of reducing aid.<\/p>\n
A provision of the proposed $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act<\/a> (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027 originally titled Section 224 but now renumbered Section 219 would establish a formal \u201cUnited States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative\u201d requiring the US defense secretary to designate a Pentagon executive agent responsible for coordinating and expanding US-Israel defense technology collaboration.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 who is wanted<\/a> by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza \u2013 has called<\/a> the section his personal plan.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly 16% of Americans support arming Israel without restrictions. So what is Congress doing? Burying a provision in the defense bill that would give Israel more military integration than any NATO ally,\u201d Sanders (I-Vt.) said<\/a> on social media. \u201cWe must strip Section 224 from the Pentagon budget.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, members of the House Armed Services Committee from both parties rejected<\/a> an amendment introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to remove the integration provision from the 2027 NDAA. The committee then advanced the broader defense package. The Senate Armed Services Committee subsequently voted<\/a> to advance the proposed NDAA.<\/p>\n Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) \u2013 an anti-interventionist libertarian who recently lost<\/a> his reelection primary to a challenger backed by President Donald Trump \u2013 said Sunday that he and Khanna have submitted an amendment to strip Section 219 from the proposed NDAA. Massie\u2019s measure requires the assent of seven of the House Rules Committee\u2019s 13 members to get a vote.<\/p>\n