- U.S. Military Aid to Israel Report: Expenditures, Impact, and Controversies

Key Chapter Title List

1. US Military Spending on Israel in the Past Two Years
2. US has spent at least $38 billion on Israel since Oct 2023
3. Arming Israel: $18 billion
4. Composition of U.S. Military Aid to Israel in 2025
5. Waging war on Israel’s behalf: $20. 2 billion
6. War Funding in the 2024 Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act
7. Military Operations Funding in the 2025 Full-Year Continuing Resolution
8. Congress-Approved War Budget Related to Israel and the Funding Shortfall Issue
9. Case Study of Unfunded Materiel Loss Costs
10. Missile Interceptor Consumption and Funding Gap During the 2025 Israel-Iran War
11. Estimated Additional Costs Not Included in the Official Budget
12. Legal Conditions for Military Aid and Their Actual Implementation

Document Introduction

Over the two-year period from October 2023 to September 2025, the United States invested at least $38.2 billion in arming Israel and conducting military operations on its behalf in the Middle East. This massive expenditure cost American taxpayers an average of $52 million per day and over $2 million per hour. The report notes, by way of comparison, that this amount is more than five times the budget of the U.S. National Park Service for the same period, 18 times the expenditure on the "Meals on Wheels" program, and 33 times the funding for veteran suicide prevention programs. It is noteworthy that Israel's GDP per capita is higher than that of developed countries such as Finland, France, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This context provides important economic and strategic reference points for the report's core analysis—the scale, use, and controversies surrounding U.S. military aid.

The report divides the total $38.2 billion expenditure into two core components. The first part is the direct arming of Israel through military grant programs, amounting to $17.996 billion. The second part is U.S. expenditure on waging war on behalf of Israel against Iran, Yemen, and across the broader Middle East, reaching $20.241 billion. Although U.S. law requires that military aid be linked to the recipient country's adherence to relevant human rights standards, the report points out that this condition has not been effectively enforced in arms sales to Israel over the past two years. This has led to Israel being repeatedly accused of using U.S. weapons to commit war crimes, systematically attacking humanitarian workers at known aid locations, and deliberately obstructing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Regarding the specific composition of aid, the report provides a detailed analysis using 2025 as an example. Israel received over $3.9 billion in U.S. military aid that year, primarily consisting of: $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing grants from the State Department; $500 million from the Pentagon for missile systems; $55 million for counter-drone systems; $47.5 million for counter-tunnel technology; and up to $20 million for "emerging technologies." On the other hand, in response to regional armed backlash triggered by Israel's military operations in Gaza, the United States directly engaged in regional hostilities. The related war budgets primarily came from the 2024 Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act and the 2025 Full-Year Continuing Resolution, for which Congress approved a total of $14.84 billion in special war funding.

However, by cross-referencing media reports and Pentagon reprogramming documents, the report reveals that the budget approved by Congress was far from sufficient to cover the actual war costs, leaving a massive amount of unfunded expenses. For example, no funds were allocated in relevant legislation or financial records to replace $924 million worth of materiel losses, including 31 expended Patriot interceptors, 21 downed MQ-9 drones, and 3 F/A-18 fighter jets lost in the Red Sea. A more typical case occurred during the Israel-Iran war from June 13 to 24, 2025, when the U.S. launched 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system interceptors and over 80 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors to counter Iranian missiles heading towards Israel. Although the Pentagon allocated $703 million to replenish THAAD and $713 million to replenish SM-3, this was only enough to replace 34 THAAD and 31 SM-3 interceptors, leaving gaps of 116 and 59 interceptors respectively. The corresponding uncovered costs amounted to $2.38 billion and $2 billion.

The data foundation of this report is solid, derived from a systematic analysis of sources including P.L. 119-4, DD Form 1414 for FY2024 and FY2025, Division A of P.L. 118-50, relevant sections of P.L. 118-47, the Pentagon Comptroller's P-1 Exhibit, multiple fiscal year incremental funding request documents, the Foreign Assistance website, and authoritative media reports. All amounts are conservatively estimated in constant 2025 dollars. The report's core findings reveal deep-seated contradictions within the U.S. military aid system to Israel: while providing massive funding and direct military support, its legally mandated conditionalities are effectively unenforced, and the actual financial cost of war far exceeds the official budget, creating a huge hidden fiscal burden and strategic risk. This provides crucial quantitative evidence and case analysis for defense researchers, policy analysts, and international relations scholars to assess the effectiveness of U.S. Middle East policy, military aid accountability mechanisms, and conflict costs.