Khanna urges removal of US-Israel defense cooperation provision
Khanna wants the provision removed from the House defense bill, which would expand US-Israel defense technology work, before the lame-duck session ends.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna called on his party on Monday to strip a defense bill provision that ties the US and Israeli armed forces together, Anadolu Agency reported.
In a video posted to X, the social media platform, Khanna voiced anger at the measure and asked, "Who do they think they are?"
He said removing the section should be the leading goal when Congress returns for its lame-duck session after the November elections.
Khanna said he was pressing Democratic colleagues and party leaders to take the section out of the legislation.
Section 219, formally called the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative, appears in the House version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.
If enacted, it would direct the defense secretary to appoint an executive agent charged with broadening and quickening defense technology research, testing and industrial cooperation with Israel.
The House Armed Services Committee turned down Khanna's proposal to delete the measure in June, when it was labeled Section 224.
Later, the House Rules Committee prevented a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment that Khanna and Republican Congressman Thomas Massie had filed to strip it out.
The House approved the $1.15 trillion bill on July 22 in a 216-212 vote, with 205 Democrats opposing it.
A Senate version contains a comparable provision, but that bill has yet to pass.
Khanna's appeal follows a statement last week by President Donald Trump that Washington would end roughly $4 billion in yearly military assistance to Israel by the end of this year.
Trump described that aid as a talking point Democrats had used against Republicans.
A Gallup poll released this year also found that, for the first time since it began tracking the question, more Americans express sympathy for Palestinians than for Israelis.
The survey followed Israel's two-year war in Gaza, which Palestinian figures say killed more than 74,000 people and wounded more than 175,000.
The National Defense Authorization Act is the annual bill that sets US defense policy and spending, and Congress must approve a version of it each year.