9/16/26: Frmr Pentagon Official, Houthis Shoot Down Jet

In early 2024, the House of Representatives passed Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act, a provision that would effectively merge the U.S. and Israeli military research, defense industrial bases, and technology sectors. Proponents argue this fusion benefits America by giving it access to Israeli military innovation—specifically citing programs like the Arrow missile defense system and a new laser technology called Iron Beam. But when former Pentagon official David Pine and journalist Ryan Grim looked closely at how those programs were actually developed and funded, they found a very different story.

Who Paid for Israel’s "Breakthrough" Weapons

David Pine served as international programs manager on the Army Headquarters staff, overseeing R&D arms cooperation with the Middle East. In that role, he was involved in signing a memorandum of understanding on the Arrow 2 missile defense program in Tel Aviv. What struck him as unusual, he told Breaking Points, was that the United States fully funded the program—through direct contributions and Foreign Military Financing, which is essentially U.S. taxpayer aid to Israel, then running about $3 billion a year. Yet the agreement barred the U.S. from using the full technology in its own missile defense systems.