Thanks to all who came out for the live podcast with Josh Paul of A New Policy! With over a decade of experience working on security assistance and arms transfers in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Josh brought his considerable expertise to our discussion about Congress’ highly consequential move toward US-Israel defense integration.
The topics we discussed included:
Josh’s resignation from the State Department in October 2023 over the Biden Administration’s decision to rush lethal military assistance to Israel for use in its war in Gaza
The current state of US aid to Israel under the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that expires in 2028
The dramatic shift in US public opinion toward Israel and how it led Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (and the Trump Administration and Members of Congress) to reconsider how to lock in US military support for Israel
Section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — how it mandates US-Israeli military integration and expands defense research cooperation, developments without parallel in any other US defense relationship (including NATO and AUKUS)
Why Section 224 of the NDAA is deeply problematic — for example, it: 1) removes transparency, takes away US leverage, and lacks human rights conditions, 2) provides Israel access to sensitive US technology (e.g. cyber and biological weapons) despite prior misuse and insufficient safeguards, and 3) would be difficult and costly to unwind and give Israel leverage over the US that could make it difficult to oppose future Israeli actions
Which Members of Congress oppose Section 224 (shout outs to Reps. Ro Khanna and Sara Jacobs!) and what further opportunities exist to push MOCs to strip the provision from the NDAA
What other Israel-Palestine legislation Josh is tracking, including the problematic Section 622 of the Intelligence Authorization Act, which would enforce a massive increase in US intelligence sharing with Israel
This was an important and highly informative conversation — one I definitely recommend sharing!
The Debrief is earning a reputation as home of “the most intelligent and interesting interviews on Substack” — to quote one subscriber. If you value this work, become a paid subscriber.
Show your support with a one-time donation in any amount.
Thank you!
Helpful Resources:
Short overview of Section 224 of the NDAA by analyst Ben Freeman in Responsible Statecraft
Deeper dive into Section 224 and the implications of a “defense industrial model” replacing the traditional aid relationship by Steven Simon of the Quincy Institute
A New Policy’s detailed section-by-section analysis of Section 224
Benjamin Netanyahu’s letter to Rep. Marlin Stutzman, in which he refers to the new US-Israel defense partnership as “my plan”
Rep. Sara Jacobs on why she supported Rep. Khanna’s attempt to strike Section 224 from the NDAA (from the House Foreign Affairs Committee markup - 3 mins)
Analysis of Section 622 of the Intelligence Authorization Act by Paul Pillar of Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies
Lara Friedman’s weekly Legislative Round-ups for the Foundation for Middle East Peace: If you really want to keep up with what Congress is doing on everything related to Israel-Palestine/Middle East, Lara’s updates are essential. You can find them on FMEP’s resource page. And Lara has started posting on Substack, so give her a follow/subscribe.
Debrief with Matt Duss: Rethinking Democrats’ Foreign Policy on Israel-Palestine (May 2026)
How Can I Take Action?
We’re waiting for the result of the Senate Armed Service Committee’s markup of the NDAA. Meanwhile, it’s not too late to weigh in with your Members of Congress.
A New Policy has teamed up with Demand Progress and a number of additional organizations on an advocacy action that enables voters to ask their lawmakers to oppose Section 224’s inclusion in the NDAA
You can call your Members of Congress on your own, if you prefer. Jess Craven, the fabulous author of Chop Wood, Carry Water, asked me to write a call script. It’s at the end of her Instagram post and below. You can use it for both Senators and House Reps; the phone number works for both chambers. At this point, there’s no need to mention the markup. You can change the second sentence of the script to: “I’m calling to ask the [Senator / Congress Member] to oppose including Section 224 in the National Defense Authorization Act.”
That’s it for now, folks. I hope you found this podcast helpful! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’ll be in touch again soon.
Warm regards,
Debra
