How much American tax dollars fund Israel
Executive summary
The United States provides Israel roughly $3.3 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) under routine appropriations, with an additional roughly $500 million a year for cooperative missile‑defense programs—bringing the commonly cited annual total to about $3.8 billion under the current 10‑year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) [1] [2] [3]. That baseline is frequently supplemented by emergency appropriations, weapons sales, and other Department of Defense transfers, so the true annual flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Israel can spike well above the MOU figure in wartime or after special congressional actions [4] [5].
1. Baseline annual commitment: the $3.3B FMF figure
Congress and the executive branch have long provided Israel with Foreign Military Financing as the principal channel of U.S. assistance; the current recurring number most often cited in appropriations and reporting is $3.3 billion per year in FMF grants paid to Israel [1] [6] [7].
2. The MOU and the $3.8B framing
The 2016 U.S.–Israel Memorandum of Understanding covering FY2019–FY2028 pledged roughly $38 billion in military assistance overall—commonly broken out as about $33 billion in FMF grants plus roughly $5 billion for missile‑defense cooperation—so analysts and some reporting present a bundled annualized figure of about $3.8 billion [2] [8] [4].
3. Extraordinary and emergency funding since October 2023
The baseline has been augmented substantially since October 7, 2023: congressional and executive actions, plus Defense Department transfers and purchases, pushed U.S. security assistance delivered to or intended for Israel into the tens of billions—estimates in research and reporting put approved or delivered security assistance at least in the low‑to‑mid tens of billions over the 2023–2025 period, including emergency FMF and stockpile replenishment [4] [5] [7].
4. How U.S. tax dollars actually get spent for Israel
Most assistance flows as FMF grants that Israel uses to buy U.S. defense equipment through Foreign Military Sales or direct contracts; Israel is also permitted unusual flexibility under the MOU (for example, some off‑shore procurement phases out) and receives certain cooperative missile‑defense funds and special R&D programs—procurements and large contracts (including multibillion‑dollar fighter purchases and Pentagon contracts) are financed through the same appropriations and FMS mechanisms [1] [9] [5].
5. Cumulative history and the accounting challenge
Historically Israel is one of the largest cumulative recipients of U.S. aid since World War II, and long‑term totals vary depending on inflation adjustments and whether Defense Department missile‑defense spending, emergency transfers, and direct arms sales are counted; public tracking sites and congressional reports disclose the major components but note that DOD‑administered missile defense or certain off‑shore procurements aren’t always captured in a single line‑item, complicating precise aggregate tallies [10] [11] [2].
6. Political debate and competing narratives
Supporters frame the assistance as a strategic, economic and technological partnership and point to ten‑year MOUs and allied interoperability; groups such as AIPAC emphasize the MOU baseline and cooperative benefits [3] [5]. Critics and advocacy groups highlight the steady military focus of the aid, concerns about legal oversight and civilian harm, and argue that emergency appropriations and unrestricted up‑front disbursements raise accountability questions [12] [4]. Reporting from Congress, think tanks and advocacy organizations all present parts of the picture—and sometimes use different definitions of “aid” (grants, sales, missile defense, emergency appropriations), producing divergent topline numbers [2] [4] [10].
Conclusion: a range, not a single number
For ordinary budgeting years the U.S. annual commitment that taxpayers are most commonly told about is $3.3 billion in FMF plus about $500 million for cooperative missile defense—roughly $3.8 billion per year under the MOU—while actual U.S. taxpayer spending on Israel can be substantially higher in years with emergency packages, major arms sales, or Defense Department transfers, pushing multi‑year totals into the tens of billions [1] [2] [4] [5]. Exact totals depend on whether one counts only FMF grants or adds missile defense, DOD transfers, expedited wartime shipments, and large FMS contracts—all of which are documented by congressional reports, government data portals, think tank research, and media coverage [11] [2] [4] [9].