PRESS RELEASE: JINSA Calls for New Model for U.S.-Israel Partnership
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.
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Jewish Institute for National Security of America
Washington, DC 20005