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Did Congress vote to ‘merge’ the US and Israeli militaries? No, that’s False.

The U.S. House passed the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act on July 22, despite false claims from Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback that the legislation merges U.S. and Israeli militaries.
Section 219, titled "United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative," establishes a framework for the two countries to share technology rather than integrate troops or yield operational command to Israel.
Defense policy expert Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center said the bill creates an "executive agent" to coordinate research, noting the role is unusual among U.S. allies but confirming the bill does not merge militaries.
Raphael Cohen of the Rand Corp. stated this increases cooperation but is "not altogether unprecedented," noting similar U.S. technology agreements exist with allies like Australia and the United Kingdom.
While the House passed the legislation, the Senate has yet to take it up; provisions focus on supply chains, AI systems, and air defense technologies.

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