The pro-Israel lobby and US military ‘cooperation’

Americans are slowly starting to wake up and ask themselves why their tax dollars should finance a genocide when so many of them cannot afford healthcare or higher education and suffer from homelessness, among other problems. Israel has seen that pressing on the issue of military aid is a losing battle. However, it has used its influence in Congress to add an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would effectively mean the Israeli and US militaries are fused under the guise of “cooperation.” Basically, this is an attempt at a hostile takeover of the US military by Israel.

Israel wants to calm public anger and, as usual, it is using loopholes in the system to benefit from American tax dollars. This time, the pro-Israel lobby helped add a provision to the spending bill that would effectively allow the two militaries to fuse. If it passes, Israel will have access to the US military. More bluntly, Israel will take over the US military. Representatives from both sides of the aisle have tried to strip the bill of this amendment but have so far been unsuccessful.

The provision, dubbed section 224, is supposed to boost ties between the two militaries. This amendment “would require the secretary of defense to designate an executive agent responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel.” The “cooperation” referred to in the text is very shady. Why would the US share its military technology with Israel?

Reps. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and Republican Thomas Massie tried to repeal this section of the defense bill. Khanna tried to use his seat on the House Armed Services Committee to put forward an amendment to remove section 224 from the bill. Khanna told his colleagues: “The American people are tired of the arrogance and insolence of (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu telling America what we should do.”

Israel’s spying activities have always been brushed under the carpet by compliant American politicians

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Khanna added that Americans “want less cooperation and blank checks to Israel, not more. Only the United States Congress would dream up at this moment, ‘Let’s actually do more for Israel.’” It is rumored that Netanyahu pressured members of Congress to write this section into the bill. Khanna said in his speech: “Last I checked, Netanyahu doesn’t have a seat on this committee.”

The fact the amendment was maintained shows that, while Netanyahu may not have a seat on the committee, he controls it. The pro-Israel lobby is still strong and, despite the awareness of the grassroots, it still has influence over the so-called grasstops. It knows that its influence is dwindling, so it wants to secure as much as possible before the lobby becomes obsolete.

In the background of this proposed hostile takeover of the US military, the Pentagon raised the threat of Israeli spying on America to its highest level. The Defense Intelligence Agency has become increasingly concerned in recent weeks as Israeli spying has become more aggressive than usual. However, Israel has always spied on the US.

Last year, Tucker Calson confronted Sen. Ted Cruz, a strong advocate of Israel, and asked him how Israel could be an ally when it spies on the US. The most famous Israeli spy is the American-born intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard, who leaked state secrets to Israel and was jailed for doing so in 1987. Nevertheless, Israel’s spying activities have always been brushed under the carpet by compliant American politicians. So, for it to become a major story in mainstream media outlets like The New York Times and NBC means that Israel has crossed a red line. Israel reportedly listened in on conversations held by American officials, including the pro-Israel Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff. But still there has been no outcry.

As long as there is no pushback against its dealings, the lobby will keep on interfering in US policies in favor of Tel Aviv

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

The pro-Israel lobby is able to operate because of the absence of a massive grassroots movement that aims to bring about policy change. But new organizations, such as Track AIPAC and the Anti-Zionist America Political Action Committee, are aiming to put the lobby’s actions under the spotlight. There has been a change in public opinion and awareness. Surveys show that Americans are holding increasingly unfavorable views of Israel. They are starting to see Israel for what it truly is: an apartheid, genocidal state feeding on their hard-earned American tax dollars.

However, the American public is not doing anything about it. There are no mass protests. Massie, the popular Republican congressman from Kentucky, last month lost his midterm primary election to an obscure candidate backed by the pro-Israel lobby. As long as there is no pushback against its dealings, the lobby will keep on interfering in US policies in favor of Tel Aviv.

There are some activist groups, such as Code Pink, which have targeted pro-Israel lawmakers and confronted them. But there have been no massive local campaigns that see protests in front of representatives’ district offices, with people threatening to vote them out of Congress if they back sending money to Israel. Do we see mass letter campaigns sent to each representative and each senator? Awareness is not being translated into action. It will probably take a while. In the meantime, the pro-Israel lobby is benefiting from this lag effect to extract the maximum it can from Americans and to lock in its gains through resolutions voted on in Congress that will be difficult to reverse.

• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.