How much aid do we give Israel each year

1. The headline number everyone cites — $3.8 billion — and what it actually covers

Every analysis repeatedly identifies the 2016 10-year Memorandum of Understanding that commits roughly $38 billion from 2019–2028, broken down to approximately $3.8 billion per year as the core U.S. commitment to Israel’s security, typically split into $3.3 billion FMF and $500 million for missile defense. This baseline is described as military-focused with economic aid largely phased out over prior decades; the MOU’s purpose is to underwrite equipment purchases, maintenance, and joint missile defense programs such as Iron Dome ^{[1] [2] [5]}. The analyses present this figure as the steady-state expectation rather than including episodic wartime expenditures.

2. Extraordinary wartime assistance has dramatically increased totals since Oct. 7, 2023

Several entries document a sharp rise in U.S. support following the October 7, 2023 conflict: one tally places U.S. military assistance at $17.9 billion in the first year after Oct. 7 and notes at least $21.7 billion by a later count that includes a second-year tranche, drawdowns, and expedited arms sales. Those analyses catalog varied channels—Foreign Military Financing, direct arms sales, drawdowns from U.S. stockpiles, and accelerated deliveries of munitions and air-defense resupplies—and report that these wartime flows are separate from the MOU baseline and have been used to replenish depleted systems and supply immediate battlefield requirements ^{[3] [4]}. These extraordinary disbursements explain why some pieces cite cumulative recent-year totals far exceeding the $3.8 billion baseline.

3. Conflicting higher “annual” numbers reflect inclusion of emergency packages and cumulative math

Some analyses present larger annualized-sounding figures—one states $12.5 billion per year, others reference multi-year totals such as $174 billion since World War II or $317.9 billion adjusted to different base years—because they either aggregate decades of bilateral aid, include missile-defense-specific programs and one-off emergency packages, or conflate recent wartime outlays with the standing MOU amount. These differences arise from whether an author reports steady-state FMF only, FMF plus missile defense, or FMF plus all emergency drawdowns, arms sales, and additional appropriations enacted during crises; recognizing this methodological split resolves much of the apparent contradiction ^{[1] [6] [2]}.

4. What the sources agree on about purpose and composition of aid

Across the analyses, the majority of U.S. assistance to Israel is characterized as military/security-focused, with over 70% of historical aid described as military in nature and most current annual funding going to defense, missile defense, and replenishment of munitions and equipment. Authors consistently note the phase-out of economic aid and that U.S. support has included both direct financing and collaborative missile-defense programs. During the recent conflict, the U.S. also provided expedited weapons deliveries and drawdowns that go beyond routine FMF lines, highlighting operational dependence on U.S. supply chains ^{[2] [5]}.

5. How to reconcile the numbers and what remains open or disputed

Reconciliation requires treating the $3.8 billion MOU baseline as the standing annual commitment while counting additional wartime appropriations, drawdowns, and extraordinary sales separately; doing so explains why analyses report dramatically different “annual” figures depending on timeframe and inclusion rules. The supplied pieces disagree on total wartime sums and on political framing—some emphasize strategic rationales and vetting safeguards, others emphasize magnitude and humanitarian consequences—but they converge on the core structural fact: baseline U.S. military assistance to Israel is roughly $3.8 billion per year, and extraordinary wartime support since October 2023 has added at least tens of billions in supplemental aid ^{[1] [3] [4]}.