Bernie Sanders Wants Congress to Block Israel Alliance Amendment

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is urging Congress to strip a provision from the National Defense Authorization Act that would expand U.S.-Israel defense cooperation, arguing it would elevate Israel’s status above some NATO allies.

“We must strip Section 224 from the Pentagon budget,” Sanders wrote on X, accusing lawmakers of “burying a provision in the defense bill that would give Israel more military integration than any NATO ally.”

The measure, known as the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” is included as Section 224 of the fiscal year 2027 NDAA.

Under the provision, the secretary of defense would be required to designate an “executive agent” to oversee and coordinate joint U.S.-Israel defense technology efforts. These efforts would include research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation between the two nations.

The provision also calls for expanded collaboration through joint ventures, licensing agreements, and co-production partnerships with Israeli industry. It outlines plans for increased joint training exercises and enhanced information-sharing mechanisms.

Israel has heavily relied on intelligence to locate, identify, track, and eliminate radical Islamic terrorist since Hamas led the Oct. 7, 2025, massacre of Israeli citizens, which resulted in the rape, murder, and kidnapping of over 1,000 citizens.

The Islamic Resistance Movement also calls for violence against the United States and the West.

Areas of cooperation would include counter-drone systems, missile defense, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber and electronic warfare, biotechnology, and defense industrial production.

Sanders cited public opinion as a rationale for opposing the measure, claiming that only “16% of Americans support arming Israel without restrictions.”

The senator has also voted multiple times to block passage of the SAVE America Act, a voter legislation measure passed three times by the U.S. House of Representatives that supporters say is backed by roughly 70-80% of Americans.

Legislation similar to the amendment has already been introduced in the U.S. Senate. In February, before Iran’s attempted military retaliation against Israeli civilians, Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to strengthen the Israel-American military alliance.

“The U.S.-Israel FUTURES Act offers an opportunity to strengthen existing bilateral programs by advancing joint investments such as emerging technologies, defense industrial base cooperation, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology initiatives,” Budd said in a press release.