A wish list of legislative items prioritized by the pro-Israel lobbying powerhouse American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) earlier this year has been nearly entirely fulfilled by the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including tens of millions of dollars a year for the Israeli military to develop artificial intelligence technologies.

Congressional Republicans have, as usual, turned the must-pass annual defense policy legislation into a defense industry bonanza. The latest version of the NDAA that advanced in the House last week authorizes $848 billion in spending for the US military, much of which will be funneled (with additional revenue from Donald Trump’s megabill) straight to private defense contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Israel, unsurprisingly, is another major winner, thanks in part to the lobbying forces of AIPAC in Washington, DC. The group spent more than $100 million on the 2024 federal elections, setting a campaign spending record. Nearly two-thirds of Congress have accepted AIPAC money, ensuring a united bipartisan front in support of Israel even as the country wages what many experts have definitively concluded is a genocide in Gaza.