December 21, 2014

Passed previously by the House 410-1 in March and by unanimous consent of the Senate the Senate in September, the bi-partisan legislation declares Israel “a major strategic partner” of the US. The legislation expands US weapons stockpiles in Israel by some $200 million to a total of $1.8 billion, so the US can better conduct military operations in the Middle East. Crucially, it allows Israel to use such weapons to conduct is own military operations. It increases cooperation between the two countries in fields of homeland security, agriculture, energy, water and alternative fuels technology development. It requires the administration to provide frequent and detailed assessments of the status of Israel’s qualitative military edge over its neighbors. Notwithstanding the cool feelings between US and Israeli leaders, the strategic relationship between the two countries seems as strong as ever.