Press Releases

Rep. Jim Banks (IN-03), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel, passed two amendments to the House’s Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to aid our ally, Israel.

Said Rep. Banks: “Israel is under attack from Hamas terrorists, the sham prosecutors at the ICC, and even from the Biden administration, which is withholding its defense aid while sending Gaza billions in ‘humanitarian’ funds.

It’s more important than ever for Congress to stand with Israel, and my amendments will help force the Biden administration to work with Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, to ensure it has the means to defend itself from further terrorist attacks.”

Amendments:

1. Expanding CENTCOM-Israel Air and Missile Defense Integration requires DOD to produce a strategy to improve cooperation on joint air and missile defense activities in CENTCOM among U.S. allies like Israel and Arab states to counter future Iranian attacks.
2. U.S.-Israel counter-tunneling exercises requires an annual U.S.-Israel exercise on detecting, maneuvering in, and neutralizing tunnel complexes.

Rep. Banks’ Israel Joint Strike Exercise amendment in the FY24 NDAA requiring CENTCOM to perform multiple joint strike exercises with our ally Israel was signed into law. The FY24 House NDAA included several other provisions from Rep. Banks to strengthen our relationship with Israel.