Military relations between Israel and the United States have been extremely close,Gregory S. Mahler, Israel After Begin, p. 45. SUNY Press, 1990. reflecting shared security interests in the Middle East."United States: External Affairs", in Jane's Sentinel: North America 2007. Jane's Information Group, 2007."Israel: External Affairs", in Jane's Sentinel: Eastern Mediterranean 2007. Jane's Information Group, 2007. Israel is designated as a major non-NATO ally by the U.S. government. A major purchaser and user of U.S. military equipment, Israel is also involved in the joint development of military technology and it regularly engages in joint military exercises with United States and other forces. The relationship has deepened gradually over time, though, as Alan Dowty puts it, it was "not a simple linear process of growing cooperation, but rather a series of tendentious bargaining situations with different strategic and political components in each".Prof. Alan Dowty, foreword in Abraham Ben-Zvi, Lyndon B. Johnson and the Politics of Arms Sales to Israel: in the shadow of the hawk, p. vii. Routledge, 2004.
Until February 2022, the United States had provided Israel US$150 billion (non-inflation-adjusted) in bilateral assistance. In 1999, the US government signed a Memorandum of Understanding through which it committed to providing Israel with at least US$2.67 billion in military aid annually, for the following ten years; in 2009, the annual amount was raised to US$3 billion; and in 2019, the amount was raised again, now standing at a minimum of US that the US is committed to providing Israel each year.
In addition, the only foreign military installations on Israeli soil are US bases, including an AN/TPY-2 early missile warning radar station on Mt. Keren."How a U.S. Radar Station in the Negev Affects a Potential Israel-Iran Clash." Time Magazine, 30 May 2012.
Overview
Following the Second World War, the "new postwar era witnessed an intensive involvement of the United States in the political and economic affairs of the Middle East, in contrast to the hands-off attitude characteristic of the prewar period. [U]nder Truman the United States had to face and define its policy in all three sectors that provided the root causes of American interests in the region: the Soviet threat, the birth of Israel, and petroleum."
During the first twenty years following Israel's independence, United States policy in the Middle East was driven by two major policy concerns: The prevention of an arms race in the Near East, and the prevention of the spread of Soviet influence. The Truman Administration promulgated the Tripartite Declaration of 1950 for these reasons, as well as to guarantee the territorial status quo determined by 1949 Armistice Agreements. Israel's main military patron at the time was France, which supported Israel by providing it with advanced military equipment and technology, such as the Dassault Mystère fighter-bomber aircraft. Initially, the U.S. government resisted pressure by Israel and Arab countries in the region to sell them advanced weapons. In response to the supply of advanced fighter aircraft by the USSR to Iraq and the United Arab Republic, the U.S. government agreed to sell MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Israel in 1962, as a "specific action designed to meet a specific situation" which "by no means constitutes change in U.S. policy in the area.". The Hawk system was approved on the grounds that it was a "purely defensive" weapon. Later, when Jordan threatened to turn to the USSR for weapons, the U.S. agreed to sell tanks and jet aircraft to Jordan in order to prevent the spread of Soviet influence, and in return, agreed to sell similar systems to Israel.
During the early 1960s, the U.S. government sought to establish a regional arms limitation agreement in the Middle East. The initiative lost steam in early 1965 after it was disclosed that the U.S. had been indirectly supplying weapons to Israel via West Germany since 1962, under the terms of a 1960 secret agreement to supply Israel with $80 million worth of armaments. The remainder of the agreement was fulfilled publicly, following its disclosure by the U.S., with Israel receiving shipments of M48 Patton tanks in 1965 and A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft in 1968.Mitchell Geoffrey Bard, The Water's Edge and Beyond: defining the limits to domestic influence on U.S. Middle East policy. Transaction Publishers, 1991.
U.S. policy changed markedly after the Six-Day War of 1967, in response to a perception that many Arab states (notably Egypt) had permanently drifted toward the Soviet Union. In 1968, with strong support from Congress, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson approved the sale of F-4 Phantom II fighters to Israel, establishing the precedent for U.S. support for Israel's qualitative military edge over its neighbors. The U.S., however, would continue to supply arms to Israel's neighbors, particularly Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, in order to counter Soviet arms sales and influence in the region.
During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the U.S. mounted a major airlift codenamed Operation Nickel Grass to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel. Over 22,000 tons of tanks, artillery, ammunition, and other materiel were delivered to aid the Israeli military in response to a large-scale Soviet resupply effort of the Arab states. The operation was paralleled by a large-scale sealift of some 33,000 tons of materiel and the transfer of 40 F-4 Phantoms, 36 A-4 Skyhawks and twelve C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to replace Israeli war losses.Simon Dunstan, The Yom Kippur War 1973: The Sinai, p. 67. Osprey Publishing, 2003.
Bilateral military cooperation deepened under the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s. In 1981, U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement, establishing a framework for continued consultation and cooperation to enhance the national security of both countries. In November 1983, the two sides formed a Joint Political Military Group, which still meets twice a year, to implement most provisions of the MOU.Leon T. Hadar, Quagmire: America in the Middle East, p. 75. Cato Institute, 1992. Joint air and sea military exercises began in June 1984, and the United States has constructed facilities to stockpile military equipment in Israel.
In 1987, the United States granted Israel the status of major non-NATO ally, enabling it to compete equally with NATO and other US allies for contracts and purchase advanced US weapons systems. Israel became the largest recipient of United States military aid in the world (see military aid and procurement below). In 1988, Reagan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize and perpetuate the work of the bilateral US-Israel military, security and economic working groups.
In an effort to prevent Israel from retaliating against Iraqi SS-1 Scud missile attacks during the Persian Gulf war of 1991, and thereby breaking up the US-Arab coalition, the US dispatched MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries to Israel. The effort met with very limited success, with less than 10% and perhaps as few as none of the Scuds fired against Israel intercepted successfully.
Under the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s, the US government made efforts to bolster the Israeli government's military edge by allowing it to purchase $700m of the latest U.S. military equipment, including advanced fighters, attack helicopters and the Joint Direct Attack Munition system. A series of major joint military technology development projects was also instituted.
Further extensive military cooperation took place under the George W. Bush administration, with Israel placing major orders for F-16I multirole fighters. During the 2006 Lebanon War, the United States provided a major resupply of jet fuel and precision-guided munition to replenish depleted Israeli stocks.
Joint military activity
The United States and Israel cooperate closely in a number of areas of military activity. The U.S. underwrites some of Israel's research and development of weapons, and has contributed significant amounts of money to Israeli defense projects such as the Merkava main battle tank and the IAI Lavi ground-attack aircraft. Israel is a participant in the F-35 Lightning II fighter development program and was offered access to the F-22 Raptor program, though it turned this down due to the high costs.
The U.S. and Israel also cooperate jointly on a number of technology development programs, notably the Arrow missile system and the Tactical High Energy Laser (also known as Nautilus). The two countries carry out regular exercises together, including carrying out biennial exercises codenamed Juniper Cobra intended to test interoperability between the two militaries. In addition, the Israeli port of Haifa is the main port of call in the eastern Mediterranean for the United States Sixth Fleet, and Israel provides other logistical and maintenance support for U.S. forces in the region. The two countries also share intelligence and maintain a joint anti-terrorist working group, and in April 2007 their air forces committed to share information about mutually relevant procurements.
The United States has stored military equipment in Israel since the early 1990s and may store additional equipment in Israel when withdrawing from Iraq.
Currently the only active foreign military installations on Israeli soil are American bases, including an AN/TPY-2 early missile warning radar station on Mt. Keren.
War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel also known as War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel or simply WRSA-I was established in the 1990s and is maintained by the United States European Command. It is one of the United States' biggest War Reserves, located within Israel. Initially the WRSA-I stock had $100 million worth of reserves; however, prior to Operation Protective Edge the WRSA-I had nearly $1 billion worth of reserves, with an authorization to increase this to $1.2 billion. In 2014 with the passing of the United States—Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014, the US agreed to increase the stock to $1.8 billion.Congress OKs watered-down bill on US-Israel ties - Retrieved 11 December 2014
The stock includes ammunition, smart bombs, missiles, military vehicles and a military hospital with 500 beds. These supplies are situated in six different locations throughout Israel. If needed, Israel could request to access the WRSA-I stock, but it would need to be approved by the US congress.Article title During Operation Protective Edge, the US authorized Israel to access 120 mm mortar rounds and 40 mm grenade launcher ammunition. These munitions were part of a set of older items in the stock, and were due to be replaced soon.
In October 2012, the United States and Israel began their biggest joint air and missile defense exercise, known as Austere Challenge 12, involving around 3,500 U.S. troops in the region along with 1,000 IDF personnel.US and Israel launch joint military drill, Al Jazeera 21 October 2012 Germany and Britain also participated.
In February 2026, the Israeli defense technology firm XTEND, developer of an AI-driven operating system for autonomous drones used by both the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. Department of Defense, announced a $1.5 billion merger with the Nasdaq-listed JFB Construction Holdings. The deal included a $152 million investment from a consortium of strategic backers, including Eric Trump, intended to scale the company's manufacturing of autonomous defense robotics within the United States, specifically in Tampa, Florida.