Passion Matters More than Cash     

The outgoing Congress ratified that princely sum last week when it passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025. It is a preliminary step in setting next year’s national security priorities, and facilitates legislative oversight of the Department of Defense, which is part of the executive branch.

The $895 billion will not be spent until the incoming Congress passes a separate appropriations bill, so the amount is not yet etched in stone. Aside from reiterating America’s longstanding commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge over its adversaries, and increased vigilance and spending to deter Iran and China, the NDAA, as currently worded, provides several goodies for Israel and food for thought for its enemies.

Two key security priorities include an additional $30 million in aid to Israel to improve the IDF’s technical wherewithal to detect and destroy enemy tunnels and to fund yearly joint subterranean military drills between Israeli and US forces, to stop terrorists from using tunnels for military purposes and smuggling. A third new proposal calls on President Trump’s new “envoy for hostage affairs” to devise a proactive strategy to protect Americans from being taken hostage or otherwise unlawfully detained when overseas.

Matthew Kenney, vice president for government affairs at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), noted that this policy change is long overdue, following a 175 percent increase in the number of US citizens taken captive abroad in the last decade. Previous administrations’ policy “has often exacerbated this trend, rewarding hostage-takers with political and monetary concessions instead of deterring and penalizing them. There is an urgent need to change course to avoid more Americans being taken hostage.”