How much military aid does the United States give Israel each year (amount and legislation)?
Executive summary
The United States provides Israel roughly $3.8 billion in committed military assistance each year under a multi‑year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), delivered mainly as Foreign Military Financing (FMF) plus separate missile‑defense funding; Congress and administrations have also approved large supplemental packages and emergency transfers on top of that baseline [1] [2] [3]. The legal architecture centers on the 10‑year MOU (the commonly cited $38 billion agreement) and annual appropriations through FMF and missile‑defense line items, though reporting and agency statements show some variation in how the MOU dates and allocations are described [2] [1] [3].
1. Baseline annual amount established by the MOU: the $3.8 billion figure and its components
The headline figure most often cited is $3.8 billion per year, which combines $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and roughly $500 million annually for cooperative missile‑defense programs—Iron Dome, Arrow, David’s Sling and similar systems—under the ten‑year security pact between the U.S. and Israel [1] [2] [3]. Multiple U.S. government and policy organizations describe FMF as the primary vehicle for this assistance, allowing Israel to buy U.S. defense articles, training, and services through the Foreign Military Sales system or FMF‑funded direct commercial sales [3] [4].
2. The legislation and agreements that create the obligation: MOU plus annual appropriations
The $3.8 billion baseline is not a single statute but the product of a 10‑year Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between administrations and then implemented through annual appropriations in Congress; sources identify a $38 billion, ten‑year agreement (commonly linked to 2016) as the political‑legal framework for the current baseline assistance [2] [3]. The Department of State describes the arrangement as a formalized 10‑year (2019–2028) MOU providing $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million for missile defense, which illustrates how different agency descriptions can vary even while pointing to the same practical funding architecture [1].
3. How the money is delivered and special terms for Israel
FMF is delivered as grants designed to be spent on U.S. defense products and services, and Israel has unique authorities: it may spend up to 25% of its annual FMF on its own defense industry and receives its FMF typically as a lump sum at the start of the fiscal year—practices not common to other recipients [5] [3]. The MOU also phases down offshore procurement allowances over time, pushing more procurement into U.S. supply chains and tying the aid to U.S. defense industrial policy in explicit ways [3].
4. Supplemental and emergency aid beyond the baseline: recent examples and scale
The baseline MOU has repeatedly been supplemented by additional, sometimes emergency, appropriations and expedited transfers: in the post‑October 7, 2023 period the U.S. approved very large packages and expedited deliveries—analysts cite roughly $17.9 billion in security assistance approved since that date and watchdogs and think tanks have tallied total U.S. spending tied to Israel’s operations and related regional missions in the tens of billions, well above the annual MOU baseline in those years [6] [7]. Administrations have also used emergency authorities to move multi‑billion‑dollar shipments rapidly, including recent declarations to expedite roughly $4 billion in assistance [8] [6].
5. Political and legal levers: Congress, executive authority, and oversight questions
Although the MOU and FMF establish the expected baseline, actual annual flows depend on Congress’s appropriations and on executive branch authorities that can accelerate deliveries or add supplemental funding; congressional debates, thematic riders, and oversight reports have repeatedly shaped and occasionally delayed or expanded aid [3] [2]. Investigations and watchdog reporting have also raised tracking and oversight problems for large supplemental transfers, highlighting that emergency shipments can outpace standard monitoring systems [9] [6].
6. What the sources do and do not resolve
Official and secondary sources consistently support the $3.3 billion FMF + $500 million missile‑defense baseline (often summarized as $3.8 billion annually) and the 10‑year MOU framework, while also documenting large supplemental packages and distinct legal and procurement terms for Israel [1] [2] [3] [5]. Sources diverge on precise dating and framing of the MOU and on totals when emergency supplemental aid is included, and publicly available reporting does not yield a single statutory citation that alone “creates” the $3.8 billion figure without reference to the political MOU plus annual appropriations [2] [1] [3].