By Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Dozens of civil rights and advocacy groups are urging Congress to scrap a defense bill provision that would deepen U.S.-Israeli military technology ties, according to a letter seen by Reuters, at a time of growing U.S. skepticism toward the longtime ally.
The provision would deepen cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors by accelerating joint military technology development and other partnerships. The bill passed the House of Representatives in July and awaits Senate action.
The provision of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, known as Section 219, seeks to set up frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements and U.S.-based co-production partnerships with the Israeli industry.
In Thursday's letter addressed to leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, 56 groups said deeper integration with Israel's defense sector would be "exceptionally dangerous" and urged lawmakers to remove the provision.
The groups include Amnesty International USA and the civil rights network National Lawyers Guild as well as Arab and Jewish advocacy groups.
"At a time in which American interests are increasingly diverging from those of Israel, and American public opinion is turning increasingly against unconditional support to Israel, creating new points of influence for Israel in the U.S. defense-technology ecosystem is exceptionally dangerous," said the letter, which has not been previously reported.
Israel is one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East, and the two countries cooperate extensively on defense and intelligence issues. Supporters say deeper ties could help speed military innovation and technology development.
A spokesperson from the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a May interview with CBS that he hoped to wean Israel off U.S. military support within a decade. In a June letter to a U.S. congressman he wrote that the time has come for Israel "to move from aid recipient to partner."
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen told Reuters that it was not in U.S. national interests to deepen such cooperation with the Netanyahu government.
"This provision ... threatens to compromise sensitive technologies and, based on our prior experience, risks giving the Government of Israel the ability to interfere in U.S. defense decisions," Van Hollen said.
U.S. PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL DECLINES
U.S. public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats. A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48% of voters and 66% of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% and 20% when the question was first asked in 2017.
Support for Israel among Democratic voters has plummeted, candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries and even moderate lawmakers are increasingly willing to challenge decades of U.S. support for Israel.
The Islamist militant Hamas group, in an October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and took hundreds hostage. More than 73,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.
The letter criticizes Israel for its potential violations of international humanitarian law in its war in Gaza and rising settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It says such developments should prevent any discussion of deepening military ties.
A memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion annual U.S. military aid to Israel is approaching its expiration date in 2028 and conversations are under way on how Washington's assistance to Israel would evolve beyond that date.
Some members of Congress have already tried to strip the provision from the fiscal 2027 NDAA. Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California introduced an amendment to block it, but it did not make it into the House version of the bill.
Once the House and Senate write their versions of the NDAA, members of the two chambers work out a compromise version of the bill, which must pass both chambers - typically near the end of the calendar year - before it can be sent to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law or veto.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
