US defense budget includes $4 billion security support for Israel, blocks UNRWA funding

The U.S. government funding bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump on Feb. 3, includes more than $4 billion in security-related assistance to Israel.

The amount includes some $3 billion in direct security assistance for the Israel Defense Forces and roughly $500 million earmarked for bilateral cooperation on cutting-edge military technologies such as drones, anti-tunnel systems and lasers.

The package also provides financial support for Israeli-developed aerial defense systems, including Iron Dome and Arrow, which also bolster U.S. national security. In addition, it allocates funding for joint air defense initiatives between the U.S. and Israeli militaries.

The new American law also earmarks $47.5 million specifically for technology cooperation between the two countries – a $27.5 million increase compared to the previous budget. Many cutting-edge military technologies developed in Israel later benefit the United States.

While Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow aerial defense systems rank among the most advanced in the world, they are expensive to operate. Israel has consequently developed Iron Beam, a laser-based, cost-efficient aerial defense system designed to intercept hostile missiles and drones at a fraction of the cost of Iron Dome and Arrow. Washington has expressed strong interest in the laser-based technologies, which are expected to become gamechangers on the future battlefield

The Financial Times recently reported that Jerusalem seeks to secure a new 10-year security agreement with the U.S. and is discussing it with Washington. 

Gil Pinchas, the outgoing financial advisor to the IDF chief, told the Financial Times that the value of the partnership with the United States extended beyond merely funding. 

"The partnership is more important than just the net financial issue in this context... there are a lot of things that are equal to money," Pinchas explained. "The view of this needs to be wider."

Last month, Pentagon hailed Israel as “model ally” in its 34-page long defense strategy document. It credited Israel for severely degrading the Iranian ayatollah regime and its regional terrorist proxies during the past two years of war since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

The new U.S. law also blocks funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), citing allegations by Israel and U.S. officials of links between some agency staff and Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 abducted.

The legislation further bans funding for the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which U.S. lawmakers have accused of pursuing politicized and hostile investigations into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza conflict. It also halts support for the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry, which Washington says disproportionately focuses on Israel while overlooking major human rights violations by other countries.

The Trump administration recently warned UN agencies that it would cut its funding unless the agencies ended their anti-Israel bias and activities against Israel.