A reported U.S. intelligence assessment claims Israel is working to embed bilateral defense, industrial and intelligence cooperation more deeply into American institutions even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly says he wants direct U.S. financial support reduced to zero.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A reported U.S. intelligence assessment is raising new questions about the future of the American-Israeli defense relationship, with the document allegedly concluding that Israel is seeking to make U.S. military, industrial and intelligence cooperation increasingly difficult to unwind.
According to a Capital & Empire report, CIA personnel and other U.S. intelligence officials produced an assessment examining an Israeli strategy to build deeper connections with American weapons programs, defense manufacturing and intelligence institutions.
The purported assessment has not been publicly released, and the identities of individuals allegedly carrying out the strategy have not been disclosed. The CIA did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment.
The reported analysis contends that visible U.S. financial assistance to Israel could gradually give way to longer-term institutional arrangements in which support is distributed through defense, intelligence and other government programs rather than presented primarily as direct aid.
That characterization stands alongside public comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he wants Israel eventually to stop relying on direct American financial support.
“I want to draw down the American support to Israel to zero,” Netanyahu told CBS’s Major Garrett during a May 10 “60 Minutes” interview.
The debate over the structure of U.S.-Israel cooperation comes as Congress considers measures that would formally expand bilateral defense technology integration.
The House passed H.R. 8800, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027, on July 22. Section 219 of the legislation would establish a Pentagon executive agent responsible for coordinating and expanding defense technology cooperation between the two countries.
“The Secretary of Defense shall designate an executive agent … responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation,” the legislation states.
The reported intelligence concerns also arrive amid increased scrutiny of Israeli spending intended to influence American public opinion.
Israel has spent more than $100 million on foreign influence efforts since 2023, according to a July Quincy Institute report that cited Foreign Agents Registration Act filings.
One of those arrangements involved former Trump presidential campaign manager Brad Parscale. His company, Clock Tower X, received $9 million from the State of Israel, according to a December 2025 FARA filing.
“At least 80 percent of [Clock Tower X] content is tailored to Gen Z audiences across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and other relevant digital and broadcast outlets,” a statement of work between Clock Tower X and Havas Media Germany (Israel) states.
The agreement also described research that would provide monthly updates involving “audience segmentation and sentiment analysis, including Gen Z and other key U.S. demographic groups.”
An embedded social media post was also included with reporting on the alleged assessment.
Political spending connected to pro-Israel organizations has drawn separate attention in congressional races.
Ed Gallrein, the Trump-backed Republican candidate in Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District, benefited from approximately $9 million in outside spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other pro-Israel organizations during his May primary campaign against incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, according to Politico.
Political action committees including the Republican Jewish Coalition and United Democracy Project, along with AIPAC’s super PAC, also contributed more than $63,000 to Gallrein during the contest.
The increased focus on institutional and political support for Israel comes as American public opinion has moved in a less favorable direction.
A March 23-29 Pew Research Center poll found that 60% of U.S. adults held a “very / somewhat unfavorable” opinion of Israel. That figure had increased from 53% in March 2025 and 42% in March 2022.
The same Pew polling found that 59% of adults had “not too much / no confidence at all in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs.”
That measure stood at 53% in March 2025 and 42% in March 2023.
The reported intelligence assessment, if authentic, would place those shifts in public sentiment against a separate trend toward deeper institutional defense cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem. While Netanyahu has publicly advocated ending direct American support, the reported assessment portrays Israel as pursuing relationships within U.S. defense and intelligence structures that could endure independently of traditional aid packages.
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