Legislation that would authorize at least $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel through 2028 and extend war reserve stockpile authority in Israel through 2023 cleared the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday with bipartisan support.
Introduced by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE), the U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act would also extend loan guarantees for Israel through 2023, and it would authorize transferring precision-guided munitions and other defense articles to Israel.
“As the Jewish state of Israel faces volatile threats from Iran, Syria’s Assad regime, Hizballah, Hamas and other malign actors, I commend my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for passing this bipartisan bill to further strengthen our critical and strategic alliance with Israel,” Rubio said. “It is in America’s national security interest to ensure that Israel, a fellow democracy and most important ally in the Middle East, always has the capabilities to defend itself amid the region’s growing dangers.”
The bill would also reiterate U.S. policy to ensure that Israel has a qualitative military edge in the Middle East. Passage of the legislation, Coons said, would signal a continuation of America’s “unshakeable, seven-decade commitment to Israel’s security.”
“The security assistance included in this bill will help Israel protect itself in the midst of regional instability; deter — and if necessary defend against — Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas; and deepen bilateral ties for the next decade and beyond,” Coons said.