Congress is finalizing its annual defense bill. The bill has a record $1.15 trillion price tag. Buried inside is Section 219. This provision would integrate America’s defense industry with Israel’s. The House approved it in July.

Section 219 would establish the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. It would create a Pentagon executive agent to coordinate defense research, development, testing, and industrial cooperation between the two countries. It covers artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology, and virtually every category of weapons.

The bill passed the House by 216-212. Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, tried to strip Section 219 with an amendment. The House Rules Committee blocked a vote on it. Massie called it ‘a betrayal of our sovereignty’. He said: ‘Codifying the integration of our military technology and supply chains with those of any other country is dangerous.’

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the provision ‘an existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy’. Former State Department official Josh Paul said the integration ‘would expose our most sensitive technologies to a country – and an industry – with a track record of industrial espionage, and would give Israel leverage over United States foreign and defense policy’.

A small group of negotiators from the House and Senate is now writing the final bill. Khanna and Massie are asking other Members to sign a letter urging conferees to drop Section 219.

Take action: Tell your representative to sign the letter. Stop United States-Israel defense integration. The action alert is from A New Policy.