The House Armed Services Committee voted on Thursday to reject an amendment from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that would have stripped a provision from the annual defense authorization bill calling for greater defense cooperation with Israel.
Khanna and other critics of section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act have said that it would “fuse” the U.S. and Israeli militaries and was an example of Congress bowing to the wishes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The American people are tired of the arrogance and insolence of Prime Minister Netanyahu telling America what we should do,” Khanna said. “This is Netanyahu telling us what we should do: a new framework of joint defense cooperation, co-development, co-production and mutual investment in areas including advanced missile defense, artificial intelligence, cyber security and next-generation military platforms. Why? Because he doesn’t want Congress to vote on the aid, he just wants it fused in the bill.”
Khanna appeared to reference a letter Netanyahu wrote to Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) on Monday supporting a resolution from Stutzman calling for U.S. aid to Israel to be phased out in favor of increased trade and military cooperation.
The bipartisan authors of section 224, Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-Fla.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.), said at the markup hearing on Thursday that the idea that Netanyahu had played a role in its drafting was false.
“I don’t know what Mr. Khanna is talking about, but I never received a letter from the prime minister,” Jackson said. “That’s complete misinformation.”
“I must admit, too, I haven’t received a letter from the Prime Minister,” Davis added.
Critics of Israel both in Congress and in think tanks like the Institute for Middle East Understanding and the Quincy Institute have seized on section 224, saying that it would deepen Israeli influence on the United States and create an “unprecedented level of U.S.-Israeli military integration.”
The actual provisions of the legislation are modest and call on the secretary of defense to designate an “executive agent” for “synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel” in existing programs. It also calls for “promoting joint training exercises and information-sharing mechanisms to enhance operational readiness.”
Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said that he shared many of Khanna’s criticisms of Israel and Netanyahu, but that Khanna’s characterization of section 224 was inaccurate.
“The reason we’re doing this is because we benefit from that technology development,” Smith said. “We develop the weapons systems, and the reason that we have these partnerships with Israel, where we may not have as many developed partnerships with other NATO countries, is because Israel has actually been having to fight.”
“I agree with the sentiments and the frustrations with the Netanyahu government,” he said. “I strongly disagree with the notion that this is Congress just bowing to what Netanyahu wants.”
Khanna’s amendment to strike the section from the defense failed by voice vote. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) was the only other member of the committee who spoke in favor of the amendment.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who lost his primary after pro-Israel groups backed his opponent, has said he would offer another amendment on the House floor to remove section 224 before final passage of the defense bill.
On Friday, he cited an article from the Guardian calling the provision “a trap being set by Israel and its lobby.”
The House Armed Services Committee also voted on Thursday to advance the overall $1.15 trillion defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2027, which includes a $65 million increase in annual Israel funding from $750 million in 2026 to $750 million in 2027, including for missile defense and counter-drone technology.
Other provisions in the bill include a formal renaming of the Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has referred to as the “Department of War” by executive order, without statutory authorization from Congress.
The committee passed the bill on a bipartisan basis, 44-12, with an unusually large number of “No” votes from Democrats for the must-pass legislation, which typically advances from the committee with only a handful of dissenting votes.
In addition to requiring passage by the full House, the authorized funds must also be appropriated in separate legislation, and U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Congress to seek an additional $350 billion in Pentagon spending through the budget reconciliation process.
