House Rules Committee Blocks Vote on US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative

On Monday, the Republican-led House Rules Committee released the list of NDAA amendments eligible for a floor vote and omitted the bipartisan proposal by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) that would have removed Section 219, the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. The provision creates a Pentagon-designated executive agent to expand joint research, development, testing, evaluation, integration and industrial cooperation with Israel, a plan backed by AIPAC. More than one-thousand amendments were reviewed, yet the Khanna-Massie amendment received no debate. The Senate version of the NDAA still contains the initiative, setting up a conflict in the upcoming conference committee.

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Khanna called the committee’s move “unconscionable,” saying the lack of a vote shields the amendment from public scrutiny. HRW’s Akshaya Kumar warned that Israel’s alleged war crimes in Gaza should make the United States pause before deepening ties. Sanders urged colleagues to strip the initiative, while Netanyahu framed the cooperation as part of his strategic vision.

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Human-rights groups such as Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch contend the initiative would entangle the United States in alleged Israeli war crimes and evade congressional oversight. Former security officials warn that sharing U.S. defense technologies could embed back-doors and enable espionage; the Defense Intelligence Agency rates Israeli espionage as “critical,” its highest threat level. Constituents nationwide have voiced “unprecedented public distrust” through letters and calls.

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The House Rules Committee’s exclusion blocks a vote, whereas the Senate version retains Section 219. No House debate created a transparency gap, and it remains unclear whether the conference committee will preserve or discard the initiative.

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• “This is unconscionable,” — Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative (D-CA)

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• “Israeli forces’ widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and its ongoing acts of genocide in Gaza should give the United States pause about closer military association,” — Akshaya Kumar, Human Rights Watch

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• “The dangers of allowing any other nation to access our sensitive military technologies are obvious, including the fact that back doors and spyware can be installed that will most certainly be used by the Israelis to influence U.S. policy.” — Joe Kent, former Director, National Counterterrorism Center

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• “my plan .” — Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel

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The Senate will advance its NDAA version that keeps the initiative, after which a conference committee will negotiate the final text and decide the fate of the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.

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