Voters Oppose Israeli Companies Embedding in Pentagon Procurement | Palestine Policy Roundup 8.27.26
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
THE HUMAN COST OF WAR: BY THE NUMBERS:
🇵🇸 GAZA: 1,283 killed since the beginning of Trump’s Gaza plan (Palestinian Ministry of Health); at least 3,795 Israeli violations of Trump’s Gaza plan (Gaza Government Media Office); 73,431 killed during Israel’s genocide (Palestinian Ministry of Health)
🇮🇷 IRAN: 3,468 killed (Iran Ministry of Health)🇱🇧 LEBANON: 4,348 killed (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health)
🇮🇱 ISRAEL: 26 killed (Israel Ministry of Health)
🇺🇲 US: 18 service members killed (US Military); 750 service membersinjured
🏛️ LEG UPDATES
Rep. Rashida Tlaib led 40 Members of Congress in a bicameral letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding that the State Department act quickly to secure the immediate and permanent release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old Palestinian American and honors student who is wrongfully detained in an Israeli military prison.
📊 POLL: VOTERS OPPOSE INTEGRATING ISRAELI COMAPNIES INTO PENTAGON PROCUREMENT
A new poll published by IMEU Policy Project and Demand Progress found that 61% of voters oppose the creation of a United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative. The creation of this program is mandated under the current texts of the NDAA passed by the House and under consideration by the Senate (section 219 and section 1217, respectively).
VOTERS WANT SEPARATION, NOT INTEGRATION: Other key findings of the poll demonstrate that voters reject increasing military support to Israel.
57% of voters oppose providing Israel more access to US military systems.
51% of voters also think that Israel benefits more from its relationship with the US–dwarfing the share of voters who think the US benefits more (12%).
Nearly half of voters (49%) think President Trump is too supportive of Israel.
These findings are especially relevant as the Trump administration negotiates a new Memorandum of Understanding with Israel that reportedly includes a bait-and-switch to provide Israel with even more support.
EMBEDDING ISRAELI WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS: The United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative would systematically embed Israeli weapons manufacturers into the US military procurement process.
The provision would mandate an expansion of the co-development and co-production model from missile defense to AI, autonomous weapons systems, and other fields.
Israeli weapons makers could capture potentially limitless profits from taxpayer-funded Department of War procurement of these weapons.
The House version of the NDAA also establishes a Defense Department Executive Agent (EA) who would be tasked with implementing this integration without any effective Congressional oversight or accountability.
📖 LEARN MORE about the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative in our policy memo.
🚨 ISRAEL KILLS DOZENS OF PALESTINIANS IN GAZA AFTER KUSHNER VISIT
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again vowed to continue Israel’s military occupation of Gaza during a meeting with President Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner. Kushner also reportedly greenlit continued Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the area.
CONTINUED ATTACKS: Just a day after the meeting, the Israeli military attacked a seaside cafe near Gaza City, killing at least seven Palestinians. Also last week, Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine Palestinians in an attack on a police station.
On Sunday, Israel killed Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha, a four-year-old Palestinian child, and two other Palestinians and destroyed a warehouse in central Gaza.
Following this attack, Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Palestinians with more attacks and further forced displacement over kites launched by Palestinian children in Gaza.
On Monday, Israeli attacks damaged a mosque and desalination facility and targeted forcibly displaced Palestinians who were sheltering in tents. Seven Palestinians were killed by these attacks.
🏠 ISRAELI SETTLERS SIEGE HOME OF PALESTINIAN AMERICAN
Earlier this month, mobs of violent Israeli settlers attacked and surrounded the West Bank home of Loui Ridi, a Palestinian American from Ohio. Loui recently returned to the Palestinian town of Qusra to help his brother and nephew, who have been trapped inside the home for over two weeks. The home is emblematic of escalating Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians across the area.
SETTLERS LAY SIEGE: On August 9, Israeli settlers began a violent siege of Loui’s home and two other Palestinian homes as they set up an outpost, which often serves as a foundation for new illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land, and is not recognized by Israeli law.
The settlers cut off water, electricity, and access to the home. Loui’s brother and nephew nearly ran out of food and water, and multiple attempts by humanitarians to deliver supplies were blocked.
Israeli settlers began to target the home in January, when they first harassed Loui’s brother. In May, a group of settlers threw stones at the home.
MILITARY ENABLES ATTACKS: The Israeli military has helped maintain the siege by restricting access to people attempting to deliver essential supplies to Loui’s family and those in the other homes in the area.
At the beginning of the siege, Israeli soldiers refused to end the settler attack and instead prayed and drank coffee with the settlers.
A recently published CNN report shows Israeli military vehicles sitting just outside of Loui’s home and Israeli soldiers surrounding its perimeter, yet refusing to detain settlers and keep them from returning to the area.
WHO IS LOUI? Loui Ridi is an American citizen, a father and husband, and a small business owner. The Ridi family own and operate more than 20 gas stations, car washes, and rental properties across Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.
On his first day back in Qusra, Loui raised an American flag on the roof, saying: “This flag is the most powerful flag in the world. My fear is the settlers taking this house. [...] They have to take this flag down to raise the settlers’ flag. That’s why I am asking the US officials and the Embassy to protect me and protect that flag.”
ZOOM OUT: This attack takes place amid a spate of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli settlers killed or injured Palestinians or damaged their property in more than 200 attacks just in July.
Settlers have also recently used the same tactic they are using on the homes in Qusra several times in order to force Palestinians to leave their homes and steal Palestinian land.
A recent report by Human Rights Watch also noted that Israeli settlers fully or partially forcibly displaced more than 100 Palestinian communities since October 2023, and that these attacks are carried out with the backing of the Israeli government and military.
🔎 ISRAEL REFUSES ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN STRIKE
Last week, Israel closed its probe into the April 2024 strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers and refused to hold any Israeli soldiers accountable for the attack. Despite coordinating with World Central Kitchen, the Israeli military attacked the humanitarian workers as they traveled in their clearly marked vehicles while attempting to deliver food to Palestinians in Gaza.
NO JUSTICE: One of those killed in the attack–Jacob Flickinger–was a US citizen who also held dual citizenship in Canada. Jacob was one of eight Americans to be killed by either the Israeli military or Israeli settlers since the beginning of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
KILLING HUMANITARIAN WORKERS: Israel killed more than half of all humanitarian workers killed worldwide in 2025, and it has killed more than 500 humanitarian aid workers in Gaza since the beginning of its genocide there.
These attacks violate international law—specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, which protects humanitarian workers. Israel’s targeting of these workers also violates Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars the delivery of weapons to countries that engage in systemic gross violations of human rights.
These killings have come amid Israel’s constant obstruction of the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including the restriction of NGOs from bringing aid to the area. Israel’s actions violate Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which mandates that no US weapons be provided to countries that block the delivery of humanitarian aid.
⛓️💥 OVER 100 NGOs CALL FOR RELEASE OF DETAINED AMERICAN SAMA SAFI
Last week, 102 faith-based, human rights, and civil rights organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding that the State Department secure Sama Safi’s immediate and permanent release. Sama Safi is a 20-year-old honors student and US citizen who was studying in the West Bank when armed Israeli soldiers broke into her family home and ripped her away from her family. She has been wrongfully detained in Israeli prisons since then.
DETERIORATING HEALTH: Sama was recently forced back into an Israeli military prison after being temporarily released to receive this critical medical treatment. During that visit, Sama’s doctors warned of irreversible and life-threatening damage to her internal organs if her detention continues.
Sama suffers from a severe chronic autoinflammatory disease that causes debilitating fevers and pain, and which requires daily medication and specialized regular treatment abroad.
In a personal statement, Sama reported that Israeli prison authorities inconsistently give her daily medicine to her, which exacerbates her condition.
She also noted in that personal statement that she has been abused by Israeli prison authorities, who at one point dragged her by her shackled ankles, causing a deep wound that bled heavily, swelled significantly, and triggered severe pain.
SAMA MUST BE RELEASED: Interruption in Sama’s specialized care abroad places Sama at high risk of clinical deterioration, severe inflammatory relapse, progressive organ damage, hospitalization, and potentially life-threatening repercussions. The State Department must live up to its commitment to protect Americans abroad and secure Sama’s release before her health worsens.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Senator Peter Welch: “More than 64,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza since the start of the war. They deserve justice just like Hind Rajab does.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “Over two years ago, the Israeli military killed 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family. The Israeli government is now opening an “investigation” into their deaths. But this is not enough. There must be accountability for the thousands of children killed by the IDF and the targeting of innocent civilians must be stopped.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “The genocide has not ended. The Israeli military has not stopped dropping US-made bombs in Palestine, murdering Palestinian children. We can’t trust Netanyahu and Trump to pursue peace, self determination, and security in the region. Congress must act. Let's pass my Block the Bombs Act.”Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “For nearly 3 months, Sama Safi, a 20-year-old US citizen, has suffered in an Israeli military prison. She has a chronic health condition, and doctors warn she may experience irreversible organ damage. My colleagues and I are demanding that Secretary Rubio secure her release immediately.”
Photo: Consolidated News Photos, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2426591937