Bipartisan United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act proposes $50M annual fund for defense collaboration

With the introduction of the United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act of 2023 last week, a collection of U.S. representatives are seeking to set aside $50 million annually for defense collaboration on emerging technologies between the two countries.

“The United States and Israel face a number of common, evolving threats,” U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and one of the bill’s authors, said. “It is critical that we work together strategically to develop joint defense technologies to ensure we are on the cutting edge of research and development and a step ahead of our adversaries. I am grateful to introduce this bipartisan legislation to further this objective with the establishment of this fund which will benefit both countries.”

In this, Wilson was joined by U.S. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Jason Crow (D-CO), Michael Turner (R-OH), and Pat Ryan (D-NY), all of whom see shared values and security interests guiding U.S. and Israeli relations past and present. With that in mind, this bill would set aside funds for 2024 through 2028.

The United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act also cites numerous examples of prior collaboration and commitments between the two nations as justification for this funding, from the $320 million allotted by Congress since 2020 alone for counter-tunneling cooperation and $88 million for counter-unmanned aircraft systems over that same time period, to commitments between President Joe Biden and former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid that called for deepening their strategic partnership.

“Israel is one of our closest allies, and the US-Israeli defense partnership is an important component of our national security and a vital source of stability in the Middle East,” Golden said. “The US-Israel Future of Warfare Fund will help both our nations to benefit from one another’s knowledge and experience to counter current and future threats in a rapidly changing strategic environment.”

Funds indicated in the legislation would be provided through a newly established U.S.-Israel Future of Warfare Research and Development Fund, run by the Department of Defense (DoD).