The House Armed Services Committee passed a measure deepening cooperation between the Israeli and U.S. militaries, ignoring allegations that Israel committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in its war on Gaza.Democratic Representative Ro Khanna proposed an amendment to eliminate the provision, known as Section 224, in the National Defense Authorization Act, but it failed by a voice vote. Khanna said the provision was another reward for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as he tries to call the shots in the war in Iran.“Everyone in America—whether you’re a Republican, an independent or a Democrat—says that we need to tell Netanyahu that America calls the shots, not the prime minister of any other country,” Khanna said. “They want less cooperation and blank checks to Israel, not more. Only the United States Congress would dream up at this moment, ‘Let’s actually do more for Israel.’”Section 224 requires the secretary of defense to “to designate an executive agent responsible for synchronising cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel.” That agent would oversee joint efforts, “including bilateral defence technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.” No other country has this privilege with the U.S. military.A voice vote didn’t record the stances of committee members, leaving members of Congress free from scrutiny at a time when Israel’s popularity continues to plummet with the American people. Only one other Democrat, Representative Sara Jacobs, co-sponsored Khanna’s legislation. The NDAA is the main funding bill for the U.S. military, which has to be passed every year.“As political pressure builds to reduce US military assistance to Israel, Section 224 provides the framework for continuing—and expanding—US-Israel military ties by entrenching Israeli technology within the US defense supply chain in a way that would shield it from the annual appropriations process,” the nonprofit lobbying group A New Policy warned last week. “The use of must-pass legislation as the NDAA as a mechanism of integration speaks to the plummeting popularity of continuing unconditional support to Israel.”Netanyahu claims to support ending U.S. military aid to Israel, likely because provisions such as Section 224 would ensure Israel gets American help by other means. A major theme in midterm election races across the country, particularly primary races, has been U.S. aid to Israel and campaign funding from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, and the political effect of Section 224 could hurt its backers. It remains to be seen if Section 224 survives when the rest of Congress votes on the NDAA.