JINSAPress Releases Archives - JINSA

PRESS RELEASE: Ending U.S. Military Assistance to Israel Abruptly Would Undermine American Security

Yoni Tobin — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:15:11 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

Washington, DC – The following is a statement from Michael Makovsky, President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, regarding President Donald Trump’s remarks on the termination of the U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding (MOU):

“President Trump’s statement today about foreign aid to Israel seemed to have caught everyone by surprise. We’re not aware of any agreement to end the aid this year; in fact, both countries were working on a new MOU to replace or follow the existing MOU that was agreed to by President Obama in 2016 and set to expire in 2028.

Israel has demonstrated its extraordinary value to American security—not simply as a recipient of U.S. military assistance, but as an ally that fights as an equal partner alongside American forces, shares intelligence, develops advanced military capabilities, hosts and protects U.S. personnel, and shoulders a growing share of the burden for regional security. The ongoing Iranian threat to American interests and the profound uncertainty facing the Middle East make Israel’s unique military capabilities more important to the United States than ever.

An abrupt end to U.S. military assistance to Israel, all of which is used to purchase American weapons from American companies and made by American workers, serves neither country’s economy nor security interests. There should be one final MOU of equal dollar value to the existing one.

JINSA has argued that the current military assistance framework should ultimately give way to a true strategic partnership built around mutual collaboration and tangible benefits to both countries. It should accelerate a new model of cooperation—one that better harnesses Israel’s military, technological, and intelligence capabilities, as well as the geographic location and security of its military bases, to strengthen American security. The question should not be how to end this relationship, but how to evolve it to meet the strategic challenges ahead.”

Report: Shifting the Center of Gravity: Transforming the U.S.-Israel Security Partnership

###

The post PRESS RELEASE: Ending U.S. Military Assistance to Israel Abruptly Would Undermine American Security appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE – New JINSA Report: Israel’s Wars Highlight Underground Domain U.S. Must Prepare For

Yoni Tobin — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:05:36 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

Washington, DC – The United States must urgently prepare for subterranean warfare as adversaries increasingly exploit underground networks to offset American military superiority, protect strategic assets, and threaten U.S. forces and homeland security, warns a new report released today by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). To do that, the United States should learn the hard-won lessons from Israel’s operations to counter Hamas’s tunnel threat in Gaza.

The Subterranean Front: Lessons for Defeating Underground Threats from a Commander on the Front Lines, co-authored by IDF Colonel David, the former commander of Israel’s elite Yahalom combat engineering special forces unit who led their counter-tunnel and subterranean warfare operations after October 7, and JINSA’s Yoni Tobin, provides an unprecedented window into Israel’s nearly three years of intensive operations against Hamas and Hezbollah tunnel networks. The report outlines how the United States and our allies can prepare for an increasingly consequential domain of modern warfare.

Subterranean warfare has evolved far beyond isolated tunnels. Hamas transformed Gaza’s underground into a sprawling, interconnected military system spanning hundreds of miles, with command-and-control centers, weapons production facilities, intelligence hubs, logistics networks, and hostage-holding sites. Hezbollah built sophisticated underground fortifications in southern Lebanon, while Iran has invested in deeply buried facilities to shield its missile, drone, and nuclear programs.

“This one-of-a-kind report, co-authored by the commander of Israel’s underground warfare special forces, is an example of how American forces can benefit directly from Israel’s hard-won operational expertise,” said JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky. “The threat is poorly understood but growing, from cross-border tunnels like the recently discovered 1,800-foot passage used by narcoterrorists to infiltrate the United States, to subterranean networks that pose a challenge to American forces abroad. The United States cannot afford to ignore it—or the lessons Israel has learned in confronting it.”

These threats extend well beyond the Middle East. China and North Korea have developed extensive underground military networks designed to protect strategic assets and sustain combat operations against the United States and our allies. Meanwhile, sophisticated tunnels along America’s southern border underscore the immediate homeland security implications: U.S. authorities have discovered at least 236 illicit cross-border tunnels entering the United States since 1990.

Just as Ukraine’s battlefield experience has accelerated advances in drone warfare, Israel’s sustained combat against Hamas and Hezbollah has produced hard-won lessons in detecting, mapping, and neutralizing sophisticated underground networks. The report argues that the United States should capitalize on this operational experience now, rather than wait for a future conflict to expose critical gaps in American readiness.

The report warns that, as with the advancements in drone warfare, it has never been easier for nefarious actors to procure commercially available equipment and expertise for tunnel construction through near-frictionless international networks.

To address these challenges, JINSA recommends that the United States:

Make subterranean warfare a core military planning priority. Adapt U.S. doctrine, operational concepts, and training to prepare ground forces for sustained underground combat, rather than treating it as a niche engineering or special operations challenge.
Integrate intelligence, technology, and operations. Establish dedicated subterranean intelligence-fusion capabilities that combine underground and aboveground intelligence, improve detection and mapping, and synchronize ground maneuver, engineering, electronic warfare, and precision strikes.
Accelerate technology development and acquisition. Invest in advanced tunnel-detection and neutralization systems, robotics, and new approaches to holding deeply buried strategic targets at risk, including promising research into weapons that use shockwaves to penetrate hardened underground facilities.
Strengthen U.S.-Israel defense cooperation. Expand joint research and development, intelligence sharing, training, and testing; explore a shared subterranean research and development center, a joint training center, and a dedicated joint operations center. Advance congressional initiatives, including Sections 1222 and 219 of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, to deepen collaboration.
Close gaps in U.S. border security. Improve Customs and Border Protection’s ability to fuse sensor data continuously, detect and map cross-border tunnels, and deploy effective detection and neutralization technologies. Disrupt the illicit supply chains, equipment transfers, and expertise that enable sophisticated underground networks to be built and sustained.
Expand cooperation with U.S. allies and partners. Work with countries including South Korea and Taiwan on shared doctrine, standardized mapping, joint technology development, multinational training, and preparations for adversaries’ subterranean operations.

Israel itself, despite years of experience confronting underground threats, had to adapt rapidly to the scale and sophistication of the networks it encountered in Gaza and Lebanon. The United States should learn from those successes and setbacks before facing a comparable challenge.

The United States and Israel should lead a broader effort to ensure that American forces, law enforcement agencies, and allied militaries possess the doctrine, intelligence, and technology needed to detect, disrupt, and defeat adversaries operating underground.

Read the Report

###

The post PRESS RELEASE – New JINSA Report: Israel’s Wars Highlight Underground Domain U.S. Must Prepare For appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: 75+ U.S. Military Leaders Reject Gaza Genocide Claims

Yoni Tobin — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:47 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

Retired U.S. Military Leaders and Legal Experts Reject Genocide Allegations Against Israel

Washington, DC – On the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, a group of over 75 senior retired U.S. military leaders and legal experts today issued an open letter, organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, rejecting allegations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, concluding that the allegation is unsupported by the facts and does not meet the definition of genocide.

The signatories, including those who have commanded U.S. armed forces in combat, emphasize that the standards used to judge military conduct matter precisely because war is tragic and imperfect. Lowering the standard for what constitutes genocide, they warn, could create dangerous incentives for adversaries to embed themselves among civilians, exploit resulting casualties, and characterize lawful military operations as genocide.

The precedent established today will shape the conditions under which American forces fight tomorrow.

“Accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza is obscene,” said JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky. “It egregiously distorts the truth, the facts, and the law. These senior U.S. military commanders and lawyers, who understand the realities of war and the unprecedented steps Israel has taken to avoid civilian casualties, have stepped forward to correct the record. I hope those who are fair-minded will take heed.”

Genocide is an exceptionally grave crime requiring evidence of an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Civilian casualties, however tragic, do not by themselves establish genocidal intent. Based on their professional experience and assessment of Israeli military operations, the signatories conclude that Israel has neither intended to destroy Palestinians as a group nor conducted its campaign in a manner consistent with such an intent.

The extensive measures taken by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to protect civilians while fighting Hamas, included advance warnings, evacuation instructions, protected corridors, tactical pauses, stringent legal review of targets, and repeated decisions to cancel strikes because of the presence of civilians. These precautions have at times required Israeli forces to surrender tactical advantages and expose their own personnel to greater risk.

The signatories do not minimize the suffering of civilians in Gaza. They draw instead on their own experience commanding American forces pointing out that, “There is no perfect attack; there are only those in which commanders use all available information to make hard decisions and their best judgement to comply with legal obligations and protect civilians.”

The letter also distinguishes inflammatory statements by Israeli political officials, which the signatories condemn, from the conduct of the IDF itself. Political rhetoric, they argue, cannot substitute for evidence of genocidal intent in the conduct of military operations.

The signatories call on those making allegations of genocide to apply the Genocide Convention faithfully and to distinguish between the tragic consequences of combat, potential violations of the laws of armed conflict, and the specific crime of genocide.

Misapplying that standard risks rewarding adversaries who deliberately endanger civilians and undermining the ability of the United States and its allies to defend themselves.

The letter concludes: “Protecting civilians and preserving the ability of our nation to defend itself requires us to defend the truth when the laws of war are being distorted to make false charges of genocide.”

Read the Open Letter

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America

2021 L St NW, Suite 101-239

Washington, DC 20036

www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: 75+ U.S. Military Leaders Reject Gaza Genocide Claims appeared first on JINSA.

Open Letter From 75+ Military Professionals Rejecting Genocide Allegation Against Israel

Nolan Judd — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:00:42 +0000

For Immediate Release
October 7, 2026

Washington, DC – As retired senior military leaders and legal experts, on this, the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 brutal attack on Israel, we reject claims that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

Genocide is a grave and exceptional violation of international law, defined and prohibited by the Genocide Convention of 1948 and enumerated as a crime in the Statute of the International Criminal Court and in the U.S. federal criminal code. The allegations that Israel committed this crime do not meet the established definition and standards of genocide, are unsupported by established facts, nor do they stand up to common sense scrutiny.

A finding of genocide requires evidence of acts that are intended to destroy a protected national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part. Israel has neither intended to, nor destroyed, Palestinians as a group in Gaza. All the evidence, in fact, points to the contrary conclusion: that, after suffering a barbaric, indiscriminate massacre by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), acting in justified self-defense, went to extreme lengths to protect civilians in Gaza, including from Hamas.

Israel’s accusers allege genocide mostly because of the supposed number of civilians killed in Gaza. Such claims are rife with flaws. Genocide is not a quantitative crime; there is no number of civilian casualties that constitutes genocide. Nor are the claimed casualty numbers from Gaza credible. Issued by Hamas themselves and, at the very least, not distinguishing between civilians and combatants, they cannot be relied upon.

Further, established legal precedent makes clear that civilian deaths occurring during combat, however tragic, are insufficient, by themselves, to support a finding of genocidal intent. That is because of the unfortunate realities of war and the laws that govern it, both of which Israel’s accusers appear woefully ignorant.

Many of the signatories to this letter have commanded United States armed forces in combat against enemies who regularly hide behind civilians and put those civilians intentionally in harm’s way. Fighting under those complexities is especially difficult. We understand that the loss of civilian life in Gaza is tragic. But we also know that such tragic outcomes do not necessarily violate the law of armed conflict. There is no perfect attack; there are only those in which commanders use all available information to make hard decisions and their best judgement to comply with legal obligations and protect civilians. And that is exactly what we have witnessed from the IDF in Gaza.

Assessments of Israeli combat operations, undertaken by some of the signatories to this letter, describe a military taking an unprecedented combination of precautions to avoid civilian casualties; not one following orders to destroy Palestinians as a group. The IDF has provided civilians with numerous advance warnings—leaflets, phone calls, text messages, radio and TV broadcasts, and social media notices—evacuation instructions, protected corridors, and tactical pauses to help move them out of harm’s way, even when those precautionary measures ceded tactical advantage to enemy forces. IDF soldiers have even put themselves in harm’s way to protect Palestinians seeking to flee the fighting from attack by Hamas. Stringent legal review of targets is a standard part of IDF procedures. Repeatedly, Israel has called off strikes because of the presence of civilians.

Israel has also gone out of its way to provide aid and assistance to civilians in Gaza. More than 3.5 million tons of food, 48,000 tons of medical supplies, 5,000 tons of baby food, and up to 15,000 cubic meters per day of water desalinated by Israel have been sent into Gaza. Over half a million Gazan children were vaccinated during the war and some 5,000 Gazans evacuated for medical treatment abroad. These are not the actions of a genocidal state but of a professional military ethically and legally committed to the protection of civilian life.

This pattern of law-abiding IDF conduct in Gaza also contradicts accusers’ claims that some statements from Israeli political officials, seemingly encouraging unlawful harm to civilians, are evidence of genocidal intent. Such inflammatory statements are disgraceful. Yet, while it deserves unequivocal condemnation, rhetoric from politicians uninvolved in military decision-making is in no way reflective of actual IDF operations.

Israel has not committed genocide but rather set a high bar for how to conduct urban warfare against an enemy who will stop at nothing, including the death of its own civilians.

We call on those concerned with this issue to carefully assess the facts related to the Gaza campaign, insist on faithful application of the Genocide Convention, and reject factually and legally dubious accusations against Israel. Failure to do so incentivizes future adversaries to deliberately endanger civilians and then exploit civilian suffering to portray lawful operations as genocide, weaken public support, and divide our alliances.

The precedent established today regarding Israel will shape the conditions under which American forces fight tomorrow. Protecting civilians and preserving the ability of our nation to defend itself requires us to defend the truth when the laws of war are being distorted to make false charges of genocide.

Read the Open Letter

Letter Signees include:

Gen James F. Amos, USMC (ret.), 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps
GEN Frank J. Grass, USA (ret.), JINSA Generals and Admirals Program Participant
Gen W.L. ”Spider” Nyland, USMC (ret.), Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
Gen Philip M. Breedlove, USAF (ret.), Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Commander US European Command
Gen Kevin P. Chilton, USAF (ret.), Commander, U.S. Strategic Command
Gen C.T. “Tony” Robertson, Jr., USAF (ret.), Commander, U.S. Transportation Command, and Commander, Air Mobility Command
GEN James D. Thurman, USA (ret.), Commander, United Nations Command, ROK-United States Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea
Gen Charles Wald, USAF (ret.), Deputy Commander of United States European Command (EUCOM)
LTG John M. Bednarek, USA (ret.), Senior Defense Official, Iraq; Chief, Office of Security Cooperation, Baghdad
Gen William Begert, USAF (ret.), Commander, Pacific Air Forces, and Air Component Commander for the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command
ADM Bruce Clingan, USN (ret.), Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe; U.S. Naval Forces Africa; Allied Joint Force Command, Naples
Gen Donald G. Cook, USAF (ret.), Commander, Air Education and Training Command
ADM Mark Fitzgerald, USN (ret.), Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe; U.S. Naval Forces Africa; Allied Joint Force Command, Naples
Gen Mike Hostage, USAF (ret.), Commander, Air Combat Command
Lt Gen Steven L. Basham, USAF (ret.), Deputy Commander, U.S. European Command
VADM John Bird, USN (ret.), Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet
Lt Gen Rod Bishop, USAF (ret.), Commander, 3rd Air Force
LTG H. Steven Blum, USA (ret.), Deputy Commander, U.S. Northern Command
LtGen Thomas Conant, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commander, United States Pacific Command
VADM Michael J. Connor, USN (ret.), Commander, United States Submarine Forces
Lt Gen David Deptula, USAF (ret.), Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters Air Force Lt Gen Eric Fiel, USAF (ret.), Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command
VADM Jeffrey Fowler, USN (ret.), 60th Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy
VADM Mark I. Fox, USN (ret.), Deputy Commander, United States Central Command
LTG David Fridovich, USA (ret.), Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM
LtGen Kenneth Glueck, Jr., USMC (ret.), Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration; Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command
Lt Gen Michael Gould, USAF (ret.), Superintendent, United States Air Force Academy
LtGen Mike Groen, USMC (ret.), Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC)
Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, USAF (ret.), Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force
LtGen Earl Hailston, USMC (ret.), Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific/Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command
LtGen Karsten Heckl, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commandant, Combat Development and Integration; Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command
LtGen John Jansen, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources
LTG James Jarrard, USA (ret.), Deputy Commanding General of United States Army Pacific
VADM Dennis Jones, USN (ret.), Deputy Commander in Chief, US Strategic Command
LTG Raymond Mason, USA (ret.), Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, G4 Army Staff
Lt Gen Charles May, USAF (ret.), Assistant Vice Chief of Staff
LtGen Fred McCorkle, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commandant Marine Corps Aviation
Lt Gen Thomas G. McInerney, USAF (ret.), Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force
VADM John Miller, USN (ret.), Commander, US Naval Forces, US Central Command
LtGen Rich Mills, USMC (ret.), Commander, Marine Forces Reserve and Commander Marine Forces North
Lt Gen Charles Moore, USAF (ret.), Deputy Commander, U.S. Cyber Command
Lt Gen C.D. Moore II, USAF (ret.), Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
VADM Ross A. Myers, USN (ret.), Commander, Tenth Fleet/Fleet Cyber/Navy Space, and former Deputy Commander, USCYBERCOM LTG Raymond Palumbo, USA (ret.), Director for Defense Intelligence
Lt Gen Chris Nowland, USAF (ret.), Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force
VADM Carol Pottenger, USN (ret.), NATO Allied Command Transformation DCOS Capability Development
VADM Joe Rixey, USN (ret.), Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency
VADM Herman A. Shelanski, USN (ret.), Naval Inspector General VADM Sandra Stosz, USCG (ret.), Deputy Commandant for Mission Support
LTG Guy Swan, USA (ret.), Commanding General, U.S. Army North/5th Army
Lt Gen Thomas J. Trask, USAF (ret.), Vice Commander, United States Special Operations Command
LtGen Mark Wise, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commandant for Aviation, USMC
RADM Fred L. Ames, USCG (ret.), Assistant Commandant for Human Resources
MajGen Joseph T. Anderson, USMC (ret.), CG 1st Marine Aircraft Wing
MG Joe Arbuckle, USA (ret.), Commander, Operations Support Command
RADM Paul Becker, USN (ret.), Director for Intelligence, Joint Staff (J2)
Maj Gen Jack J. Catton, Jr., USAF (ret.), Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command
MajGen Mark Clark, USMC (ret.), Commanding General Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC)
MajGen Jon Gallinetti, USMC (ret.), Deputy Commander, Marine Corps Forces Command
RADM Brett Heimbigner, USN (ret.), Director Joint ISR Operations Center
MajGen Bob Hollingsworth, USMC (ret.), Vice Commander, Marine Forces Pacific
Maj Gen James P. Hunt, USAF (ret.), Deputy Commanding General, Multi-National Corps, Iraq
Maj Gen Kenneth Israel, USAF (ret.), Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Airborne Reconnaissance and Director of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office
RADM Steven Kantrowitz, USN (ret.), Deputy Commander, Naval Legal Service Command
RADM Edward Masso, USNR (ret.), Commander Navy Personnel Command/Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel
RADM William F. Merlin, USCG (ret.), Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District
MG William Moore, USA (ret.), Director for Operations, Headquarters
Maj Gen Bentley B. Rayburn, USAF (ret.), Commander, USAF Doctrine Center
MajGen Dave Richwine, USMC (ret.), Chief Information Officer and Director of Intelligence, Headquarters, US Marine Corps
Maj Gen Lawrence Stutzriem, USAF (ret.), Director, Plans, Policy, and Strategy, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command
MajGen Larry Taylor, USMCR (ret.), Commanding General, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing
MG Paul Vallely, USA (ret.), Deputy Commanding General US Army Pacific
RDML Terry McKnight, USN (ret.), Commander Task Force 151 – Anti-Piracy Task Force/Commander Expeditionary Group Two
RDML Mark Milliken, USN (ret.), Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy International Programs Office
BGen Michael Mulqueen, USMC (ret.), The United States Military Entrance Processing Command
Brig Gen Christopher Walker, USAF (ret.), Assistant Adjutant General and Commander of the West Virginia Air National Guard
BG Mitchell M. Zais, Ph.D., USA (ret.), Former Acting U.S. Secretary of Education
COL Marc Warren, USA (ret.), Former Special Assistant for Military Law and Operations to The Judge Advocate General, U.S. Army
MAJ John Spencer, USA (ret.), Executive Director, Urban Warfare Institute

The post Open Letter From 75+ Military Professionals Rejecting Genocide Allegation Against Israel appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Calls for New Model for U.S.-Israel Partnership

Yoni Tobin — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:55:57 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA Calls for New Model for U.S.-Israel Partnership

Washington, DC – The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) released, Shifting the Center of Gravity: Transforming the U.S.-Israel Security Partnership, a new report arguing that Israel has demonstrated itself to be America’s most capable modern-day strategic ally and that Washington should deepen this partnership. The report calls for shifting the relationship from one of American military assistance to true mutual cooperation, with a final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) providing $3.8 billion annually on average over 10 years paired with a series of non-monetary initiatives designed to generate greater direct benefits for American security.

“Not since the Second World War has the United States had an ally that has fought alongside it as willingly and ably as Israel. It truly is America’s most important ally in the 21st century,” said JINSA President and CEO Michael Makovsky. “Now, recognizing how much more Israel has to offer the United States, it is the time to shift the center of gravity of this relationship toward true partnership—from military assistance to mutual collaboration, most importantly by shifting U.S. force away from vulnerable bases nearer Iran to secure bases in Israel.”

The report comes as American political support for Israel has declined sharply. Sixty percent of Americans expressed an unfavorable view of Israel in a 2026 Pew Research Center survey, while nearly half of House Democrats and one Republican recently voted to end all U.S. military assistance to Israel.

The case for Israel is not simply historical ties, shared values, or obligations to a partner. Israel’s value is demonstrated by what it does when America needs it: fighting common adversaries, hosting and protecting American forces, sharing intelligence, developing cutting-edge technologies, and assuming a greater share of the burden for regional security.

Following the October 7 attack, Israel decimated Hamas militarily, severely degraded Hezbollah, helped trigger the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, and conducted the brunt of the 12-Day War in 2025. During the 2026 40-day campaign against Iran, Israel fought shoulder-to-shoulder with America, carrying an equal share of the combat burden and risk, with historic levels of joint planning, intelligence integration, and operational coordination, while hosting and protecting more than 100 U.S. military aircraft and thousands of American servicemembers. It also deployed advanced air defenses and troops to help defend a U.S. partner, the United Arab Emirates.

Israel’s value is clear when measured against President Donald Trump’s standard for U.S. allies: burden sharing. Israel currently spends almost 8% of its GDP on defense, substantially exceeding NATO’s new 5% benchmark and roughly three times the share many European countries spend. Meanwhile, U.S. military assistance to Israel is entirely spent in America on American weapons and has been steadily declining in real terms—today, the $3.8 billion that was agreed to in 2016, is worth 40% less.

“The Middle East remains an extremely challenging region of the world where critical U.S. security and economic interests remain deeply engaged, including vis a vis great power rivals in China and Russia,” said John Hannah, JINSA senior fellow. “Whatever the current strains in the relationship might be, Israel’s world-class military, intelligence, and high-tech economy make it an extraordinary asset to U.S. leadership and power, both in the Middle East and globally. It would be a terrible own-goal to fritter it away.”

To solidify this partnership and power American global preeminence, JINSA recommends:

Conclude a new and final 10-year MOU that maintains an average of $3.8 billion in annual U.S. assistance while shifting resources toward joint missile-defense development.
Establish a new permanent U.S. military presence at Israel’s Ovda air base, while expanding options at other Israeli air and naval bases.
Erect a U.S. forward operational headquarters for CENTCOM in Israel for planning, mission command, and oversight of U.S. forces in the region.
Create a regional U.S. prepositioned arsenal hub in Israel and modernizing and expanding WRSA-I.
Co-develop next-generation technologies with Israel based on Pillar II of the Australia-United Kingdome-United States (AUKUS) security partnership, including counter-hypersonic and directed-energy capabilities.
Formally include Israel in Golden Dome, expanding procurement and coproduction of Israel’s combat-proven air and missile defense systems.
Establish a framework for co-producing vital munitions and components, strengthening the U.S. and Israeli defense industrial bases and supply chains.
Expand bilateral intelligence sharing on Iran, its proxies, and shared adversaries like China and Russia.
Expand the special relationship by establishing a “Model Ally” status for Israel, including joint R&D and co-production, updated Qualitative Military Edge, reciprocal offsets, and deeper defense industrial integration.
Establish a limited U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense Treaty with a deliberately narrow threshold for activation.
Deepen regional CENTCOM-led defense cooperation and integration between Israel and key Arab states, toward a limited, U.S.-led regional mutual defense treaty, conditioned on Arab members normalizing relations with Israel.

As the United States shifts greater strategic attention toward China and the Indo-Pacific, a stronger Israel capable of shouldering more of the burden for Middle Eastern security can help preserve American interests in the region while freeing U.S. resources for other priorities.

The question for policymakers is not what America owes Israel. It is what America gains from having Israel as an ally—and how much more both countries can gain by making that alliance stronger.

Read the Report

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
Washington, DC 20005

The post PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Calls for New Model for U.S.-Israel Partnership appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Mourns the Passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham

Yoni Tobin — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 18:30:07 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA Statement on the Passing of Senator Lindsey Graham

Washington, DC – The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) mourns the sudden passing of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and pays tribute to a lion of the U.S. Senate, one of America’s leading advocates for a strong national defense, principled American leadership abroad, and a robust U.S.-Israel strategic partnership.

JINSA was honored to recognize Senator Graham’s extraordinary leadership with our highest distinction, the Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson Distinguished Service Award, on two occasions, reflecting both his enduring friendship with our organization and his decades-long commitment to advancing American national security, both in Congress and through his military service.

“America today lost one of its great, moral, hard-headed, influential, bipartisan, and courageous leaders on a range of U.S. national security issues, including Israel, NATO, Iran, Russia, and China,” said Dr. Michael Makovsky, JINSA’s President and CEO. “His was a defining voice in America’s national security debate, and it will be sorely missed, including as America’s confrontation with Iran continues.”

Senator Graham and his office were always receptive to JINSA staff, and he supported major JINSA initiatives, including championing in recent years moving Israel to U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, a U.S.-Israel mutual defense treaty, Israel-Saudi normalization, and the Taylor Force Act (spearheaded by JINSA Distinguished Fellow Sander Gerber).

JINSA extends its condolences to Senator Graham’s family, friends, staff, and the people of South Carolina.

May his memory be a blessing.

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Mourns the Passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Celebrates Delivery of KC-46A Refueling Tankers to Israel, Strengthening U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense

Yoni Tobin — Thu, 28 May 2026 05:05:25 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA Celebrates KC-46A Refueling Tanker Delivery, Strengthening U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense

Washington, DC – Israel took delivery of its first of six KC-46A aerial refueling tankers yesterday in an official ceremony at Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) celebrates this momentous occasion, which enables Israel to better project power and extend its aircrafts’ range. In 2018, JINSA, alone among organizations, began pressing for the United States to sell Israel these advanced aerial refueling tankers. And then, after the United States approved this sale in 2021, JINSA published detailed proposals to expedite the initial transfer of KC-46s to Israel, train Israeli Air Force pilots on the new aircraft, and deploy U.S. KC-46s to Israel before the Israeli aircraft arrived, which the United States did shortly before Operation Epic Fury.

By upgrading the Israel Air Force’s obsolescing tanker fleet and expanding the reach and capacity of its combat aircraft, the KC-46 will act as a force-multiplier for Israel’s ability to counter shared threats from Iran and its proxies. It also will reduce the burdens and risks facing American forces in the region, after the U.S. Air Force helped fill gaps in Israel’s aerial refueling capacity during the recent war with Iran.

Furthermore, Israel’s use of the most advanced U.S.-made aerial refueling tankers will deepen the interoperability of U.S. and Israeli forces that proved so effective in Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion.

JINSA wants to thank President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, Congress, and the Pentagon for helping ensure Israel can utilize the latest-generation U.S. capabilities for the mutual defense of our two countries.

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Celebrates Delivery of KC-46A Refueling Tankers to Israel, Strengthening U.S.-Israel Mutual Defense appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: JINSA President Michael Makovsky Says President Trump Should Reject the MOU with Iran

Yoni Tobin — Sun, 24 May 2026 21:20:49 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA: President Trump Should Reject the MOU with Iran

Washington, D.C. – “If the reported details of a proposed U.S.-Iran MOU are broadly accurate, it would represent a loss of American nerve and damaging strategic reversal in recent American policy, abandoning many of President Trump’s prior redlines, undercutting many of the tremendous achievements of the military campaign, and undermining U.S. credibility.

“I hope President Trump recognizes the enormous dangers posed by this reported MOU and rejects this disastrous arrangement. He should reverse course and restore American credibility by resuming military action that further weakens Iran’s conventional military and nuclear capabilities, ensuring the freedom of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, maintains economic pressure on the Tehran regime, and supporting Iranians seeking to bring about the regime’s collapse, which is the ultimate strategic prize for the United States.

“The U.S.-Israeli military campaign made major advances in curbing Iran’s ability to project power and weakening the regime, for which both countries’ militaries and political leaders are to be commended. However, rather than degrading Iran further, this deal would strengthen and enrich it, thereby prolonging its survival.

“Comparisons to President Barack Obama’s 2015 JCPOA would be immediate and deserved. The United States would again be financially rewarding the Tehran regime to negotiate on its nuclear program while not addressing Iran’s missile capabilities or its aggressive regional activities.

“In some respects, this agreement is worse than the JCPOA, since the United States would be relinquishing leverage accumulated through 38 days of direct military confrontation, strategic isolation, maritime pressure, and visible deterioration of Iran’s internal and regional position.

“If Iran would not agree to acceptable American terms on its nuclear program during a ceasefire — while facing a blockade, economic strangulation, internal instability, and the credible prospect of renewed severe U.S.-Israeli military operations — there is no serious reason to believe lifting that pressure will produce a better outcome.

“Without the complete, permanent, and verifiable dismantlement of Iran’s entire nuclear program, the regime’s pathway back to nuclear weapons capability is preserved and will restart, no later than after President Trump leaves office.

“The Iranian regime and its supporters will rightly see this agreement as a victory over the United States, emerging not only intact but with new life thanks to the unfreezing of assets, the resumption of significant oil sales (mostly to China), and effective control over the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump would also be abandoning the Iranian population, with whom he has repeatedly expressed solidarity and support, by rescuing this brutal and corrupt regime from collapse.

“It betrays Israel, our full-fledged partner in the war, which reportedly opposes this deal and was given little say in it. Israel will undoubtedly need to conduct another military action against Iran at some point to undo the damage from this deal. Israel also cannot be expected to adhere to any Iranian veto over Lebanon, and will be compelled to maintain its military action against Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah that continues to threaten Israel’s northern towns.

“The MOU also leaves exposed our Gulf Arab allies to an emboldened Iran as America retreats from the region.

“The lesson for the rest of the world will be that America can be coerced through brinkmanship, defiance, and threats to maritime commerce and energy markets. China will take note and is a clear winner, and Taiwan a loser.

“There should be no memorandum of understanding, interim deal, or partial arrangement with the Tehran regime, as it will not be worth the paper it is written on.

“A deal that leaves the regime stronger, wealthier, and intact guarantees neither peace nor stability. It guarantees only that the next war will come under worse conditions.”

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: JINSA President Michael Makovsky Says President Trump Should Reject the MOU with Iran appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Blockade More Effective Than Widely Reported

Yoni Tobin — Fri, 01 May 2026 15:41:32 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA: U.S. Blockade More Effective Than Widely Reported

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports has been more effective than reported, according to a new report released today by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

The report, Turning Tides: U.S. Blockade Enforcement Exceeds Iranian Evasion, assesses claims that large numbers of ships have made it past the U.S. blockade and, based on a detailed data review, concludes the opposite. Almost three-quarters of ships that have attempted to run the blockade have been turned back by U.S. forces.

JINSA compiled and analyzed commercial shipping movements, attempted blockade breaches, vessel diversions, and other enforcement trends since the blockade’s launch on April 13. The key data findings were:

Just 17 of 62 blockade-eligible ships that attempted to cross the blockade line as of April 30 did so without being blocked by U.S. forces;
One quarter of these successful evasions happened on April 13, the blockade’s first day, suggesting significant improvements in enforcement since then;
None of the vessels that crossed the blockade line were energy tankers;
Several energy tankers moving oil on behalf of Iran were seized or redirected as part of the broader Operation Economic Fury effort; and
Just two vessels traveled to East Asia without being stopped, though one is a vessel linked to Iran-China missile fuel precursor trade.

Significantly, JINSA’s findings contradict press reports that 25 to 35 Iranian vessels, including dozens of energy tankers, breached the blockade. The report examines in detail these assertions—which the Pentagon has refuted—and attributes them to flawed methodology, confusion over the blockade’s criteria, or the tallying of illicit vessels that U.S. forces later caught up with.

“While there has been a rush by many to brand almost every aspect of Operation Epic Fury a failure, JINSA’s quantitative analysis confirms that the U.S. naval blockade is, in fact, a success,” said JINSA Vice President for Policy Blaise Misztal.

Though not reflected in any shipping data, the report stresses that the threat of shipping firms, port managers, and refinery owners getting caught in this dragnet deters them from helping Iran.

The report notes U.S. operations are also constricting the regime’s ability to import weapons components, assembled weaponry, inputs for missile fuel, cash, and other items from its patrons in Beijing and Moscow.

“Our analysis shows the blockade accomplished in two weeks what decades of halfhearted U.S. policy measures failed to do: remove the number one state sponsor of terrorism’s main funding source,” said Yoni Tobin, JINSA senior policy analyst and report author. “The first U.S. naval blockade in decades has been a success story. This shows that the United States can capably enforce a blockade in future conflicts, should it be necessary.”

Click Here to Read the Report

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Blockade More Effective Than Widely Reported appeared first on JINSA.

PRESS RELEASE: Trump’s Blockade Hits Iranian Regime’s Economic Lifeline. JINSA Recommends These Next Moves.

Yoni Tobin — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:30:55 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2026
Contact: Blake Johnson
bjohnson@jinsa.org

JINSA CEO Dr. Michael Makovsky: Trump’s Blockade Hits Iranian Regime’s Economic Lifeline

Washington, DC – The following is a statement from, Michael Makovsky, President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, on the implementation of President Donald Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports:

“We commend President Trump blockading Iranian oil exports, which JINSA proposed back in January, demanding U.S. action after the Tehran regime violated his redline against killing civilian demonstrators.

“This blockade will weaken the regime by undercutting its primary source of income, either forcing it to make concessions or ensuring that it will be denied the resources to rebuild its instruments of terror.

“President Trump might next consider taking over or destroying Kharg Island, through which Iran experts most of its oil, if Iran doesn’t agree to permitting the removal of its enriched uranium and destruction of its nuclear facilities.”

Insight: Quarantine Iran’s Oil to Collapse the Regime (Jan 2026)

Report: Credibility and Collapse: U.S. Policy Options Toward Iranian Protests (Jan 2026)

###

Jewish Institute for National Security of America
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 1030
Washington, DC 20005
www.jinsa.org

The post PRESS RELEASE: Trump’s Blockade Hits Iranian Regime’s Economic Lifeline. JINSA Recommends These Next Moves. appeared first on JINSA.