How Much Military Aid Does Israel Get From the US? A NIS 25 Billion War Grant
A special US grant financed NIS 25 billion of Israel’s war cost over 2024 to 2026, the Bank of Israel records. The 2016 MOU terms and CRS dollar figures.
NIS 25 billion of the cost of Israel’s war was financed by a special grant from the United States over 2024 to 2026, the Bank of Israel recorded in its Annual Report 2025, published in 2026. The grant came to NIS 13 billion in 2024 and NIS 6 billion in each of 2025 and 2026, and the 2026 amount is a forecast. The Bank books the grant in shekels, as one of the methods that financed the war.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| NIS 13 billion | Special grant from the United States financing the war’s cost | 2024 |
| NIS 6 billion | The same grant | 2025 |
| NIS 6 billion | The same grant, a forecast | 2026 |
| NIS 25 billion | The same grant, total of the three years | 2024 to 2026 |
Source: Bank of Israel, Annual Report 2025, Chapter 6, Table 6.2 (financing methods).
A US grant financed NIS 25 billion of Israel’s war cost
The Bank of Israel lists the US special grant in Table 6.2 among the methods that financed the war that began on 7 October 2023. The grant was largest in 2024 and is NIS 6 billion a year after that. The 2026 amount is a forecast, because Table 6.2 treats 2026 as a forecast year. The amounts stay in NIS here, as the Bank prints them.
The NIS 25 billion sits against a NIS 352 billion war cost
The Bank of Israel put the fiscal cost of the war at about NIS 350 billion over 2023 to 2026, and Table 6.2 prints NIS 352 billion. Gross defence expenditure accounts for NIS 249 billion of that. The NIS 249 billion is the increment above the pre-war multiyear defence agreement, not total defence spending.
The estimate excludes the campaign against Iran that began in late February 2026, which the Bank calls Operation Roaring Lion, and the damages from it. See Israel’s 2026 war with Iran. The 2026 column of Table 6.2 is a forecast.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| About NIS 350 billion (NIS 352 billion in Table 6.2) | Fiscal cost of the war, excluding the Iran campaign that began in late February 2026 | 2023 to 2026, with 2026 a forecast |
| NIS 249 billion | Gross defence expenditure within that cost, as an increment above the pre-war multiyear agreement | 2023 to 2026 |
| NIS 116 billion | The war’s budget increment in a single year | 2025 |
| NIS 84 billion | Defence expenditure within the 2025 increment | 2025 |
| NIS 129.7 billion | Net defence budget, original, excluding US defence assistance | 2025 |
| NIS 161.8 billion | Net defence budget, revised, excluding US defence assistance | 2025 |
Source: Bank of Israel, Annual Report 2025, Chapter 6, Table 6.2 and Figure 6.2. The net defence budget values are read from the data labels of Figure 6.2.
The grant covers 2024 to 2026 and the war cost covers 2023 to 2026. The two figures therefore cover different periods.
The 2016 MOU sets levels subject to US appropriation
The memorandum of understanding the US Department of State published was signed at Washington on 14 September 2016. It covers FY2019 to FY2028 and states that its funding levels “are subject to the appropriation and availability of funds”. The memorandum sets a level and a schedule rather than obligating money.
An accompanying letter from Benjamin Netanyahu to John Kerry records Israel’s commitment not to seek Foreign Military Financing (FMF) above the agreed levels for the duration of the memorandum. Israel also committed to return any additional FMF for 2017 or 2018 granted outside the framework.
The memorandum’s text does not state the pledge in dollars. The Congressional Research Service, a US body, states the pledge in dollars in its report RL33222, U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel: Overview and Developments, and it updates the figures with each edition.
| Figure or term | What it covers | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| “subject to the appropriation and availability of funds” | Status of the memorandum’s funding levels | US Department of State, MOU text | FY2019 to FY2028 |
| No FMF sought above agreed levels | Israel’s commitment in the accompanying letter | US Department of State, MOU letter | FY2019 to FY2028 |
| $38 billion | Pledge under the MOU, subject to congressional appropriation | Congressional Research Service | FY2019 to FY2028 |
| $3.8 billion a year | Annual request: $3.3 billion FMF plus $500 million missile defence | Congressional Research Service | Each year, FY2019 to FY2028 |
No Israeli body here publishes an annual dollar total of US aid
The Bank of Israel’s Annual Report 2025 records only the special grant, in NIS, and carries no line for annual FMF or missile defence funding. The chapter’s central government expenditure is net. Its footnote 2 defines net as excluding “expenditures that are conditional on revenues, such as defense assistance from the US.” Defence spending funded by US FMF is therefore outside the Bank’s expenditure figures.
The Congressional Research Service publishes the annual and cumulative dollar figures for US aid on this page. The memorandum, as published by the US Department of State, carries no dollar figure.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIS 25 billion | Special grant financing the war’s cost | Bank of Israel | 2024 to 2026 |
| $8.7 billion | Congressional appropriation, combined FMF and missile defence | Congressional Research Service | FY2024 |
| $1 billion | Additional missile defence funding | Congressional Research Service | FY2022 |
| $174 billion | Cumulative bilateral assistance and missile defence funding to date, current dollars | Congressional Research Service | Since the Second World War, to the report edition |
Which figures may not be added together?
The Bank of Israel’s NIS figures and the Congressional Research Service’s dollar figures may not be added together or converted into one series. They are different measures in different currencies. The NIS 25 billion grant is a financing method in the Bank’s war-cost table. The Bank’s expenditure figures are net of US defence assistance, so any sum of US aid and those figures is a separate construction. The war cost runs from 2023 to 2026 and the grant runs from 2024 to 2026. The NIS 249 billion is an increment, not total defence spending.
Questions readers ask
How much military aid does the US pledge Israel each year?
The Congressional Research Service states that the 2016 memorandum pledged $3.8 billion a year, requested as $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million for missile defence. The pledge is subject to congressional appropriation.
How is the $38 billion pledge split?
The Congressional Research Service states that the $38 billion over FY2019 to FY2028 comprises $33 billion in FMF and $5 billion in missile defence appropriations.
How much US aid has Israel received in total?
The Congressional Research Service states that Israel has received $174 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defence funding to date, in current dollars. On the Service’s count, this makes Israel the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since the Second World War. The total moves with each edition of the report.
How much did Congress appropriate for Israel in FY2024?
The Congressional Research Service reported $8.7 billion in combined FMF and missile defence funding for FY2024.
Did Congress add missile defence money before the war?
The Congressional Research Service reported $1 billion in additional missile defence funding for Israel in FY2022.
Is the money in the 2016 MOU guaranteed?
The US Department of State published the memorandum’s text, which states that the funding levels “are subject to the appropriation and availability of funds”. The memorandum sets a level and a schedule rather than obligating money.
Can Israel ask the US for more FMF under the MOU?
The US Department of State published an accompanying letter recording Israel’s commitment not to seek FMF above the agreed levels for the duration. Israel also committed to return any additional 2017 or 2018 FMF granted outside the framework.
When does the current MOU end?
The US Department of State published the memorandum signed on 14 September 2016. It covers FY2019 to FY2028.
Who signed the 2016 MOU?
The US Department of State published the text signed by Under Secretary Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. and Acting National Security Adviser Jacob Nagel.
Does Israel’s defence spending figure include US aid?
The Bank of Israel published central government expenditure net of “expenditures that are conditional on revenues, such as defense assistance from the US.” Defence spending funded by US FMF is outside those figures.
What share of GDP did Israel spend on defence in 2025?
The Bank of Israel recorded central government defence expenditure of 7.8% of GDP in 2025, on the budget definition, compared with 8.4% in 2024. This figure is net of US defence assistance.
Is the 2026 grant amount final?
The Bank of Israel records NIS 6 billion for 2026 in Table 6.2, where 2026 is a forecast year.
Does the war cost estimate include the 2026 Iran campaign?
The Bank of Israel put the war’s fiscal cost at about NIS 350 billion over 2023 to 2026, excluding the campaign against Iran that began in late February 2026 and its damages.
Why are the grant amounts in shekels rather than dollars?
The Bank of Israel published the special grant in NIS billion in Table 6.2. The amounts are given here as the Bank prints them, without conversion.
Sources
- Bank of Israel, 2026. Annual Report 2025, Chapter 6: The Public Sector and its Financing. Bank of Israel Annual Report, English edition. https://boi.org.il/media/u4zp5dm5/chap-6e-2025.pdf. Official or primary record.
- US Congressional Research Service, ongoing. U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel: Overview and Developments. CRS report RL33222. congress.gov/crs-product/RL33222. Official or primary record.
- US Department of State, 2016. Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States and Israel on Security Assistance. Signed at Washington, 14 September 2016. 2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/265160.pdf. Official or primary record, bilateral executive agreement.
