Responsible Statecraft has reported:

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) says its policy recommendations influenced provisions in this year’s defence policy bill, including a proposal to coordinate U.S.-Israel work across areas ranging from artificial intelligence to weapons. The group’s influence is tied in part to its Generals and Admirals program, which brings recently retired U.S. military officials to Israel and has included many participants with defence-industry roles.

In August, JINSA said it had helped shape “multiple provisions” in the bill, with many “impacted by prior JINSA policy recommendations.” It cited “proposals to strengthen U.S.-Israel defense industrial base integration” and “renew pre-existing joint U.S.-Israel programs.”

Among the measures is Section 219 of the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The provision would establish a single executive agent to “synchroniz[e] cooperative efforts” between the United States and Israel across nine categories, including artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology and virtually every category of weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said provisions of this kind would shift the security relationship between the countries from aid to partnership. Pro-Israel advocates, however, have also highlighted the leverage such integration could give Washington’s military policy. Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the pro-Israel Foundation for Defense of Democracies, appeared to refer to the provision in an article calling for the two countries to “deepen their military, technological, intelligence and economic integration to such an extent that inflicting financial harm on Israel would also carry a significant cost for Washington.”

Other JINSA-backed initiatives include a pending provision to “extend the existing War Reserve Stockpile Authority for Israel.” The authority provides a secretive, high-speed route for supplying weapons to Israel. The group has also advocated Abraham Accords measures titled “Improvements to Air and Missile Defense Acquisition” and the “United States-Abraham Accords Defense Cooperation Initiative.”

JINSA says it pursues policy goals through educational programs that build ties among American, Israeli and other Middle Eastern partner military leaders, alongside research and recommendations intended to influence U.S. policy. Its “Our People” webpage lists many retired U.S. military officials. The organization’s ability to secure policy attention has been described as an overlooked part of the pro-Israel lobby’s presence in the military-industrial complex.

JINSA’s Generals and Admirals program has operated for more than four decades. Founded in 1981, it takes recently retired U.S. military officials to Israel. Some participants already held defence-industry board positions when they travelled; others took industry jobs soon after. Among the alumni from the program’s 2019-2026 cohorts, at least 55 of 83, or about 66 per cent, have held or currently hold defence-industry positions. These include board seats, executive jobs and advisory roles at defence contractors and defence technology companies, as well as positions at defence-focused investment funds, consultancies and lobbying firms.

JINSA describes the initiative as “designed to ensure that the delegation is well briefed on the security concerns of Israel, as well as the key role Israel plays as a friend and ally of the United States.” The Helmsley Charitable Trust, which awarded the program a 13-month grant worth $237,846 in 2017, said its purpose included having participants “return home to share publicly what they learned.”

The itinerary includes meetings with Israel’s prime minister and defence minister, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the director of Mossad. JINSA says participants often pursue policy initiatives after the program through its Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, which it says strengthen “the U.S.-Israel security relationship.” In 2014, JINSA chief executive Michael Makovsky described the influence of former officers, calling U.S. generals and admirals “America’s most admired leaders, who remain very influential even after retirement.”

A 2023 Quincy Institute report found that 80 per cent of four-star officers who retired between June 2018 and July 2023 went on to work in the defence industry. Nine of the 32 officers tracked in the report appear on JINSA participant lists; seven of those nine retired officers hold industry lobbying or defence technology roles.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Lockheed Martin’s board five months after leaving the military. The following year, in 2021, he travelled to Israel with JINSA. Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the former director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command, retired in 2018, became a senior adviser at Brunswick Group, a lobbying and public relations firm, in 2019, and joined the JINSA trip in 2021.

Gen. Hawk Carlisle took part in the 2019 delegation while serving as president and chief executive of the National Defense Industrial Association, described as the war lobby’s leading trade group. He has also served on the board of Elbit Systems of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Israel’s largest defence contractor. That subsidiary was renamed Twenty-Six Defense in September. Retired Gen. Robert Magnus and Gen. Duncan McNabb joined Elbit America’s board after their JINSA trips.

JINSA’s retired officers have also used their military credentials to make public arguments on policy. In 2010, then-head of U.S. Central Command Gen. David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Israel-Palestine conflict “foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel,” which is used to “mobilize support” for militant groups in the region. In response, 30 former military leaders associated with JINSA’s program placed an advertisement saying “a strong, secure Israel is an asset.” The ad described Israel as “a democracy” that “shares our commitment to freedom, personal liberty and rule of law.” Numerous human rights groups have described Israel as an apartheid state.

In May 2018, a JINSA task force of retired senior officers chaired by Adm. James Stavridis published a report called “Atlas Supported.” It urged Washington to elevate Israel to “a top-tier ally” and jointly invest in next-generation military technology, an aim that is now central to Section 219. JINSA says the report was also the first to recommend transferring Israel from U.S. European Command to U.S. Central Command. President Donald Trump ordered that change on January 15, 2021.

JINSA marked the fifth anniversary of Israel’s move to CENTCOM in January, saying the “Wall Street Journal recognized” it as “the only organization promoting this move.” The group also featured praise from participants in its Generals and Admirals program. In October 2026, it again mobilized retired military officials to reject findings by three human rights groups and the United Nations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The officials praised what JINSA called a “pattern of law-abiding IDF conduct in Gaza.”

Some JINSA delegates appear regularly on cable television, sometimes without their connection to the organization being disclosed. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie commanded CENTCOM from 2019 to 2022, travelled with JINSA’s 2023 delegation and became a “distinguished fellow” at the organization in 2024. He is now a CBS News contributor. In July, Margaret Brennan introduced McKenzie as a retired CENTCOM commander on Face the Nation without mentioning his JINSA fellowship. During the appearance, he recommended that Washington consider seizing Kharg Island. Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward, a member of JINSA’s Iran Policy Project, also appears frequently on Fox News, where his affiliation is generally disclosed.

JINSA-aligned military leaders also pressed for U.S. support for Israeli action against Iran. In March 2025, a group of them wrote that “U.S. support for Israeli action to prevent a nuclear Iran should be a top priority,” adding that “time is running out to stop its march to the bomb.” Sixty-six of the letter’s 79 signers appear on JINSA’s Generals and Admirals participant lists. Members of the organization’s retired-official roster later wrote open letters supporting the 12-Day War and the current months-long Iran War.