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A coalition of over 50 rights groups on Thursday wrote to leaders in Congress to “strongly urge” them to reject not only specific proposals in each chamber’s version of the next Pentagon budget, but also “any legislation seeking to intertwine US and Israeli defense or intelligence capabilities.”

The provision in the House-approved National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (HR 8800) is Section 219 — previously titled Section 224 — and the related but slightly different proposal in the pending Senate bill (S. 4784) is Section 1217. Congressional leadership is expected to negotiate a version of the full NDAA that can pass both GOP-controlled chambers.

“The provisions would establish a new US Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative aimed at accelerating joint research, development, and integration of Israeli-origin and jointly developed defense technologies into US military systems and programs of record,” says the new letter to the chairs and ranking members of both Armed Services committees: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-RI) and Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.).

“This would expand US-Israeli military integration across some of the most sensitive domains of emerging technology, including quantum computing, AI and autonomous systems, cyber and electronic warfare, directed energy, and defense industrial base co-production, while expediting pathways from R&D into procurement,” notes the letter, first reported by Reuters.

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