cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/47506853
The legislation calls for nearly $1.4 trillion in defense spending and would expand Israeli influence over the US Congress and military
Lawmakers in Washington are quietly moving to integrate the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways, according to a clause in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released earlier this week.
Section 224 of the NDAA, entitled “United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” proposes bilateral defense research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and other US-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation.
If implemented, the initiative would “arguably do more to intertwine the US military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the US since its founding in 1948,” Responsible Statecraft (RS) wrote. It is “the first step towards shifting aid further into the shadows” and “would all but fuse the two countries’ armed forces together,” RS added.
Section 224 of the NDAA calls for expanded US–Israeli coordination in the areas of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, and biotech.
It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion,” which would allow Israel to access the US military’s data.
If implemented, the measures would give the Israeli government expanded influence over the US political system. “By expanding or starting new co-production facilities like it already has in Mississippi and Arkansas, the Israeli government could boast of providing jobs on US soil, thereby securing allies among members of Congress who represent the districts where those jobs lie,” RS concluded.
They can’t have enough money to bribe everybody with access to power everywhere. Shit, not even the United States can do that. But both US political parties serve Israel’s interests. Almost every Western European country backs them. The United States is the wealthiest country in the world with by far the biggest military machine. Yet the US seems to always bend a knee to Israel no matter how unpopular that country may be to American citizens. There are plenty of conspiracy theories, but there is definitely something going on…
They don’t have to buy everyone, but if you look at US elections it is obvious they they spend a lot getting friendly politicians into power. There are others that are likely compromised in other ways. Plus there are religious nut jobs that are working to bring about the prophesied end of the world so they can be fucking raptures. All of that plays into giving Israel outsized influence.
There is also the racial piece though. Israel is framed as the ‘good guys’ that are the West’s defenders against the ‘evil Muslims’. A frustratingly large portion of the world population either doesn’t care, or actively condones wholesale slaughter of brown people.
It’s like $30k to buy a Congressman. It’s surprisingly cheap
Maybe a house representative. A senator? A majority of house reps and senators AND the president? The heads of BOTH political parties? The press? What about the UK? Germany? They don’t have that much money. There is something else going on.
That’s just the cash price to buy outright. An RV here or there, a vocal and well funded PAC, worldwide propaganda and information warfare for decades, and you can get enough people on your side.
But they do have that much money. They have an outsize GDP from their domestic industry, plus huge material support from foreign governments, plus a global support network