Democracy thwarted

Among other things, the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative would require the US to share intelligence with Israel and establish a system of weapons research, development, and production, particularly in the domains crucial to warfare in the modern age: artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and various other fields of high defense technology.

The House provision, which has a Senate version known as Section 1217, would also forbid the president of the United States from limiting intelligence collaboration with Israel over its human rights abuses. If the President ever wants to limit such collaboration, he or she must tell Congress and can only cite American national security as a basis.

In other words, these bills would connect the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways and make it exceedingly difficult for any future president to unwind this partnership with a foreign government.

If these bills pass in their current form, the US military would be more integrated with Israel’s than with that of any other country, including America’s NATO allies.

There’s a reason why members of Congress are trying to sneak this bill through right now, buried in a massive and must-pass defense spending bill: This might be their best, last chance to thwart the will of the American people.

Over the past three years, American public opinion has turned sharply against the Israeli government.

Thanks to the modern miracle of social media, Americans were able to directly see the human carnage as the Israeli military slaughtered and starved, by the most conservative estimate, over 73,000 people in Gaza.

Americans were also able to see the consequences of the Israeli military’s ethnic cleansing in Lebanon, which has destroyed ancient cities, including Christian towns, and displaced a million people from their homes.

Most recently, the American people watched as the Israeli government openly convinced the Trump administration to launch an unnecessary, illegal and failed war on Iran that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, over a dozen American soldiers, and a global economic crisis, including a sharp rise in gas prices.

The American people are simply fed up. According to recent Pew data, 60% of American adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 42% in 2022.

Majorities of voters under 50 in both parties feel this way: 57% of young Republicans and 84% of young Democrats. Most Americans oppose further unconditional US military aid for the Netanyahu government.

Recent election results, in which candidates who staked their campaigns on investing American taxpayer dollars here at home instead of overseas in the Israeli military, have also shown that the tide is rapidly changing.

Even prominent conservatives like Tucker Carlson have decried the Israeli government’s influence on our political system while once-dominant conservative voices like Ben Shapiro known for supporting Israel have flailed and bled support.