Analysis of Key Provisions in the Middle East in the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year"

Key Chapter Title List

1. U.S.-Israel Cooperative Missile Defense Programs
2. Further Improvements to the Middle East Joint Air and Missile Defense System
3. U.S.-Israel Underground Warfare Cooperation
4. U.S.-Israel Cooperation in Countering Enemy Unmanned Systems Across All Operational Domains
5. U.S.-Israel Defense Industrial Base Working Group
6. U.S.-Israel Emerging Technology Cooperation
7. Report on U.S.-Israel Joint Military Exercises
8. Assessing the Impact of International Arms Embargoes on Israel
9. Strengthening the War Reserve Stockpiles Ally - Israel
10. Addressing Wrongful Detention Act
11. Syria-Related Provisions: Repeal of the Caesar Act, Authorization of Assistance, Counterterrorism, and U.S.-Syria Relations
12. Other Regional Provisions: Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, and Iraq

Document Introduction

This report is published by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), aiming to provide a systematic and forward-looking analysis of the key provisions related to Middle East security in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to be passed by the U.S. Congress. The core context of the report is that following the 2024 Iranian missile attack on Israel, the twelve-day war, Houthi maritime attacks, and the evolving regional situation in 2025, the bipartisan U.S. Congress is seeking to reshape and strengthen the U.S. security architecture, alliance relationships, and deterrence posture in the Middle East through legislative means.

The report's content is extensive and in-depth, primarily revolving around three strategic pillars. First, strengthening U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation is placed at the core. The bill not only provides full authorized funding for cooperative missile defense programs such as Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow-3, and adjusts the funding structure to prioritize replenishing Arrow-3 interceptor inventories, but also unprecedentedly requires the establishment of a U.S.-Israel Defense Industrial Base Working Group to assess the feasibility of integrating Israel into the U.S. National Technology and Industrial Base, addressing ammunition production shortfalls exposed during the Ukraine war and the confrontation with Iran. Furthermore, cooperation extends to underground warfare, counter-unmanned systems, emerging technologies (AI, quantum, etc.), and regularized joint military exercises, aiming to comprehensively integrate Israel's innovative "Startup Nation" capabilities and consolidate its qualitative military edge.

Second, the report provides a detailed analysis of legislative efforts aimed at building a regionally integrated air and missile defense architecture. The bill strongly encourages the Department of Defense to cooperate with Middle Eastern allies and partners to incorporate lessons learned from events such as the 2024 Iranian attack and the twelve-day war into a comprehensive air and missile defense architecture. Related provisions stem directly from research jointly drafted by JINSA and the Senate Abraham Accords Caucus, advocating for accelerating the maturation of the regional defense network through more realistic multinational exercises and optimized foreign military sales processes, while also providing a reference for the Gold Dome program designed to protect the U.S. homeland.

Third, the report examines deterrence and containment provisions targeting Iran and its proxies, as well as strategies for dealing with the region's complex changes. Among these, the Addressing Wrongful Detention Act aims to establish a new designation mechanism for state sponsors of wrongful detention, increasing penalties against countries like Iran that detain U.S. citizens. On Syria, the bill reflects a strategy of cautious engagement with the new government of Ahmed Shara'a (the report assumes a post-late 2024 scenario following the fall of the Assad regime), including conditional repeal of the Caesar Act, extending assistance to vetted Syrian groups, while maintaining the U.S. military presence in northeastern Syria to retain leverage, and setting strict conditions for reopening an embassy. The report also analyzes restrictive provisions targeting Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, as well as an assessment of the vulnerabilities of Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base.

The analytical foundation of this report is rooted in a series of in-depth thematic studies published by JINSA in recent years, such as "Forged in Fire: Middle East Air Defense After Iran's 2024 Attack on Israel," "Rethinking U.S. Hostage Policy in Gaza and Beyond," "Production Partners: U.S.-Israel Middle East Cooperation to Strengthen the Collective Defense Industrial Base," and "Course Correction: Fixing America's Syria Strategy." The report not only interprets the legal force of the bill's text and joint explanatory statements provision by provision but also places them within the dynamic geopolitical environment, assessing their practical impact on U.S. Middle East policy, alliance management, and great power competition. It provides an indispensable and authoritative reference for professional readers to understand the direction of U.S. Congressional Middle East security policy in the coming year.