Washington-Israel $3.8 Billion Annual Memorandum Expires in 2028
Key Facts
The terms of U.S.-Israel defense cooperation are back in focus as the current aid memorandum approaches its expiration on September 30, 2028, amid a broader debate over the future of funding and the nature of the partnership between the two countries. Globes reported that Washington wants control over Israeli defense technology in exchange for aid, but that claim could not be independently verified through an open source. Discussion of transferring intellectual property, patents or technical expertise therefore remains attributed to the report and does not establish that such terms have entered formal negotiations. By contrast, the public record of statements shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports changing the framework of cooperation from aid to partnership. The memorandum's expiration date puts that political position in the context of preparations for the next aid agreement, without establishing agreement on its terms.
The current memorandum of understanding covers the period from 2019 to 2028 and includes $3.3 billion a year in foreign military financing, in addition to $500 million a year for missile defense programs, according to The Times of Israel. This means foreign military financing is not the entirety of the annual support in the memorandum; missile defense programs are a separate component worth half a billion dollars each year. In a statement in May 2026, Netanyahu said Israel receives about $3.8 billion a year in U.S. military aid. He also noted that the existing agreement sets out $38 billion for the period from 2018 to 2028. These figures reflect differences in the scope and periods covered by the two agreements: the current memorandum begins in 2019, while Netanyahu described a total commitment running from 2018 to 2028.
In the same interview, broadcast in May, Netanyahu said he wants to reduce the financial component of U.S. support to zero, starting immediately rather than waiting for the next Congress. He said: "I want to reduce U.S. financial support to zero." The statement reflects a publicly declared position on reducing reliance on funding, but does not establish that Washington has agreed to end it or that a new agreement has been finalized. The Times of Israel report linked the debate to the changing weight of aid in Israeli spending, saying it had become a smaller share as the economy and defense budget grew. The report added that Israel had bolstered domestic production to address the constraints. Netanyahu's call thus intersects with a push to shape a defense relationship based more on partnership and industrial value, as described in the report.
Industrial and military cooperation remains central to the debate over the future relationship. In June, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said two-thirds of the defensive weapons that had protected Israel in the three months before his statement were made in the United States and funded by U.S. taxpayers. Vance said: "Over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland were made by American hands." His statement underscores the U.S. role in supplying Israel with defensive weapons as Netanyahu speaks of reducing the financial component of aid. It does not settle how technology or intellectual property will be handled in the next agreement, nor does it confirm Globes' claims about specific U.S. conditions. But it makes clear that the debate covers funding, production and defense cooperation, not only the value of aid.
The bilateral debate coincides with objections in the United States to deeper defense integration. In September 2026, 56 human rights and civil society organizations called on Congress to remove a provision pushing for greater integration between the two defense sectors and submitted a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services committees. The organizations described deeper integration as "extremely dangerous," according to Reuters. This puts proposals for broader cooperation before a political debate in Congress, alongside the funding considerations raised by Netanyahu. The letter does not mean Congress removed the provision or made a decision on aid, but it records organized opposition to deeper cooperation. Netanyahu's stated position, meanwhile, calls for moving from an aid framework to partnership.
The Congressional Research Service says the current memorandum remains in effect through September 30, 2028, and that U.S. and Israeli officials will likely begin the formal process of negotiating the next aid agreement soon. The deadline makes the shape of the relationship after 2028 part of the upcoming agenda, while the source has not established that negotiations over the alleged technology-transfer terms have begun. The expected formal process will take place amid a clear divergence between existing reliance on U.S. funding and Netanyahu's call to reduce its financial component to zero. The proposed shift from aid to partnership also remains the framework Netanyahu has said he supports in a message to Congress. Until negotiations begin, the available evidence provides no U.S. decision on the size or terms of the next support package, or the technology it might cover.