Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
Foreign Military Financing funds allied defense purchases. Israel gets $3.3B a year through 2028, more than any other country, per State Dept and CRS data.
Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
Foreign Military Financing is the U.S. State Department grant program that pays for allied governments to buy American weapons, and Israel is its largest recipient at $3.3 billion a year under a 2016 memorandum of understanding running through 2028. The Congressional Research Service puts total U.S. aid obligated to Israel from 1946 through 2024 at an estimated $298 billion in constant dollars, almost all of it military since 2007.
How much foreign military financing does the US give Israel each year?
The United States provides Israel $3.3 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing grants plus $500 million a year for cooperative missile defense programs, for $3.8 billion annually, under the 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in September 2016 and covering fiscal years 2019 through 2028, according to the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. The MOU total across all ten years is $38 billion: $33 billion in FMF and $5 billion in missile defense funding, per the same State Department fact sheet.
Since fiscal year 2009, the United States has separately provided Israel $3.4 billion for missile defense programs, including $1.3 billion for Iron Dome support beginning in FY2011, the State Department reports. These figures are the standing baseline. They do not include emergency supplemental packages passed after October 7, 2023.
How much total U.S. aid has Israel received since 1948?
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. The Congressional Research Service, citing State Department and USAID data as of January 2025, estimates total U.S. aid obligated to Israel from 1946 through 2024 at $298 billion in constant 2024 dollars. The Council on Foreign Relations rounds the inflation-adjusted total to more than $300 billion.
Nearly all of this aid is now military. From 1971 to 2007, Israel also received significant U.S. economic assistance, which has since been phased out under successive MOUs, according to CRS. Since 2000, more than 86% of annual U.S. aid to Israel has funded military programs, per CRS data compiled by USAFacts.
What weapons has Israel bought using U.S. Foreign Military Financing?
FMF funds Israel's access to F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters, Iron Dome interceptor batteries, and the Arrow and David's Sling missile defense systems, per the State Department's security cooperation fact sheet. Israel is the first foreign F-35 operator; the original 2016 MOU fact sheet from the Obama White House put Israel on schedule to receive 33 F-35 aircraft.
In 2021, Israel's Security Cabinet allocated $9 billion in future FMF funds toward 12 Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopters, with an option for six more, plus additional F-35s, according to the Naval Air Systems Command. In August 2022, Israel signed a $927 million contract with Boeing for four KC-46A refueling tankers, a deal the Israeli Defense Ministry said used expedited FMF financing, Defense News reported.
What did Israel receive after October 7, 2023?
Congress passed emergency supplemental appropriations in April 2024 (P.L. 118-50) that included $3.5 billion in additional FMF for Israel, on top of the standing $3.3 billion annual baseline, according to the Congressional Research Service. The same act added $5.2 billion in missile defense appropriations, including $4 billion for existing systems and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, Israel's new laser air defense system and the first dedicated U.S. funding for it, per CRS.
President Biden's October 2023 emergency supplemental request sought more than $14 billion in Israel-related funding, CRS reports. Separate from FMF, the State Department maintains a running list of individually notified Foreign Military Sales to Israel, published through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency's arms transfer notification system.
How does Israel's FMF compare to other U.S. recipients?
Israel receives more annual FMF than any other country, more than double the next-largest recipient in a typical non-emergency year. The ranking below uses standing bilateral FMF baselines rather than one-time emergency supplementals, which can temporarily push a country's single-year total higher.
| Recipient | Standing annual FMF | Source / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Israel | $3.3 billion (+ $500M missile defense) | 2016 MOU, FY2019-2028, State Department |
| Egypt | $1.3 billion | Accounts for roughly 80% of Egypt's military procurement budget, per reporting on U.S.-Egypt security assistance |
| Jordan | $425 million (FY2022 figure) | U.S. aid to Jordan dates to the late 1960s, per State Department trade data |
| Ukraine | Variable, emergency-driven | $2.392 billion in FMF appropriated 2022 through April 2025 under the Ukraine response, per the Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve; not a standing annual baseline |
| Taiwan | Authorized but not appropriated | Congress authorized $2 billion in annual FMF for Taiwan in 2022 but did not appropriate it; the FY2023 NDAA required loans instead, per CRS |
Egypt and Israel have historically been the two largest recipients combined, accounting for a majority of the global FMF account in most years before 2022, according to CRS budget justification data. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine has drawn the largest total U.S. security assistance in dollar terms, but through emergency supplemental appropriations rather than a standing FMF baseline like Israel's.
What happens to Israel's FMF after 2028?
The 2016 MOU phases out a provision that historically let Israel spend a share of its FMF allocation inside Israel rather than on U.S.-made equipment, known as offshore procurement. In FY2019, Israel could spend 25% of its FMF offshore; the offshore share steps down each year and reaches zero in FY2028, per the terms of the MOU cited in State Department reporting. From FY2029 onward, absent a new agreement, all FMF dollars would need to be spent on U.S.-origin defense equipment.
Congress must renew or replace the MOU for FMF to Israel to continue past FY2028, since the current agreement is a bilateral pledge, not a permanent statutory entitlement, and each year's funding still requires congressional appropriation, according to CRS.
What is Foreign Military Financing, structurally?
FMF is a State Department grant program authorized under the 1976 Arms Export Control Act and executed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) within the Department of Defense. FMF does not send cash directly to recipient governments; it pays for specific purchases of U.S. defense articles, services, and training through the government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system or through Direct Commercial Contracts between a foreign government and a U.S. company, per DSCA program guidance.
The Secretary of State determines which countries are eligible for FMF; the Secretary of Defense, through DSCA, executes the disbursement. Congress appropriates FMF funding annually as part of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations act, based on the President's budget request.