Two US cargo ships and several military aircraft delivered 6,500 tonnes of ammunition and military vehicles to Israeli ports on April 30.
Israeli officials confirmed the arrival of the latest batch of US military aid, which was unloaded and dispatched to bases across the country, where Israel is currently fighting wars of aggression on multiple fronts in the region.
The ships carried “thousands of air and ground munitions, military trucks” along with combat mobility vehicles and additional equipment.
This was not an isolated military shipment from the US.
Washington has sent more than 115,600 tonnes of military equipment to Israel via 403 flights and 10 ships since it joined hands with Tel Aviv in the war against Iran two months ago.
The latest shipment is part of the longstanding US-Israeli military relationship, where American taxpayers fund Israel’s military operations against its many neighbours with little net gain for the US.
The US shipments of ammunition and military equipment to Israel continue despite a growing domestic opposition to such aid.
Last month, 40 of the 47 Democrats in the US Senate voted to block weapons sales to Israel.
There has been no pause in the flow of US military aid to Israel, even though a vast majority of Democrats – and many of their Republican counterparts – in Congress oppose the joint Israeli-US war against Iran.
The headline numbers
Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War II.
Washington has so far provided Israel almost $175 billion – in current dollar terms – in bilateral assistance and missile defence funding, a figure that far exceeds US aid to any other country over the same period.
Under the 2019-2028 Memorandum of Understanding signed during the Obama administration, the US sends Israel $3.8 billion in military aid every year.
Of the total yearly handout, $3.3 billion is in foreign military financing, while the remaining $500 million is for missile defence.
In addition to the annual cheque, the US has sent at least $21.7 billion in direct military aid to Israel since October 7, 2023.
That figure, compiled by Brown University’s Costs of War Project, covers the two years from October 2023 to September 2025 and includes foreign military financing, missile defence funding, ammunition replenishment, and emergency transfers under both the Biden and Trump administrations.
Israel gets US hardware, not cash
US aid equips and replenishes the Israeli forces so it can maintain “full strength” and have “all the necessary means” to operate “at any time and in any place required”, according to Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz.
But the US is not sending cash for Israel to spend freely.
Under US law, the overwhelming majority of foreign military financing must be spent on American-made weapons and missile systems.
Hence, Israel places orders with US defence contractors for weapons and ammunition, and sends the bill to the US government.
Washington then uses taxpayer money to pay its weapons manufacturers for fulfilling Israeli military needs.
In simpler terms, the US taxpayer writes the cheque, defence contractors receive the money, and Israel receives military hardware for free.
The real beneficiaries
The structure of military aid to Israel looks more like a subsidised procurement programme for the US weapons industry, which is a big political donor in Washington across party lines.
Companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX (formerly Raytheon) and others frequently receive fresh contracts funded by American taxpayers.
The US has approved more than $32 billion in weapons sales to Israel since October 2023, generating substantial business for big defence contractors.
Reports indicate that business is booming for large weapons makers, as reflected in their steadily rising share prices over the last two and a half years.
Politicians get their cut
Pro-Israel lobbying groups, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), provide campaign contributions to members of Congress who keep US military aid to Israel flowing.
Public campaign-finance data consistently shows hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to candidates who support unconditional military assistance to Israel.
The top decision-making body of the US Democratic Party recently rejected a symbolic resolution condemning AIPAC-linked “dark money,” a term for political spending intended to influence elections when the exact donor is not clearly disclosed.
AIPAC-linked donations often play a make-or-break role in determining the electoral fate of candidates in the US. They helped 98 percent of the 365 candidates in the 2022 election cycle win their general election races.
Meanwhile, US politicians use factory jobs created and sustained by US weapons manufacturers to justify the continued military aid to Israel.
Weapons plants in states from Texas and Arizona to Alabama employ thousands of Americans building the combat-use vehicles, munitions and aircraft components that end up in Israeli hands.
In other words, factory towns receive a direct injection of cash every time Congress writes another cheque for Israel.
Under this roundabout arrangement, taxpayer money leaves Washington, goes through Israeli bureaucracy to fulfil legal requirements, and returns to a few US factory towns as revenue and votes.
However, an overwhelming majority of ordinary Americans lose their tax dollars to a foreign country and domestic vested-interest groups.
