The current U.S.-Israel military-assistance framework is a ten-year memorandum of understanding covering fiscal years 2019 through 2028. It sets out $33 billion in planned Foreign Military Financing grants and $5 billion for cooperative missile-defense programs. An MOU is an executive-branch commitment and planning framework; Congress must appropriate the money each year.
What the 2019 MOU provides
Under the signed 2019–2028 memorandum of understanding, the United States agreed to support $3.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing, or FMF, and $500 million annually for cooperative missile and rocket defense. The document says the missile-defense amount is not earmarked for a fixed number of Iron Dome, David’s Sling or Arrow systems. The governments implement defense projects through separate agreements.
FMF is grant assistance used to buy eligible U.S. defense articles and services. The MOU phases out Israel’s ability to spend a portion of FMF on purchases from Israeli suppliers; the schedule reaches zero offshore procurement in fiscal year 2028. The $38 billion total is therefore a stated decade-long framework, not an irrevocable appropriation or automatic payment independent of congressional action.
What QME means in U.S. law
Israel’s qualitative military edge, or QME, describes its ability to counter credible military threats with superior military capability. Congress codified U.S. policy to preserve Israel’s QME in the 2008 Naval Vessel Transfer Act. The law requires the executive branch to assess QME and, when reviewing certain arms sales to Middle Eastern countries, determine whether a proposed sale would materially affect it. The relevant provisions concern arms-transfer review, rather than a blanket ban on arms sales to other countries.
QME is supported through multiple tools: access to U.S. systems, military financing, joint research and development, and missile-defense cooperation. The 2008 legislation also required periodic reporting. The congressional report explaining the provision describes the QME assessment and its use in reviewing arms sales; see the House report on the 2008 legislation.
MOUs guide planning; Congress funds programs
The first ten-year U.S.-Israel aid MOU was signed in 1998. The 2007 MOU covered fiscal years 2009–2018, followed by the current 2019–2028 framework. These agreements give both governments a multi-year planning baseline for procurement and defense cooperation. Annual appropriations remain Congress’s decision, and lawmakers can provide additional aid through separate legislation.
For the connected technical programs, see how U.S. and Israeli missile-defense systems work and how the wider partnership developed.