Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, new reports from American universities are shining a harsh spotlight on the United States’ pivotal role in enabling Israel’s military operations across the Middle East. According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza—and its wider military actions in Yemen, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria—would not have been possible without a torrent of American weapons, money, and political backing.
“Given the scale of current and future spending, it is clear the [Israeli army] could not have done the damage they have done in Gaza or escalated their military activities throughout the region without US financing, weapons, and political support,” wrote William D. Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, in a report jointly released by the Costs of War Project and the Quincy Institute. This report, titled US Military Aid and Arms Transfers to Israel, October 2023–September 2025, details a staggering level of American involvement.
Since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 67,150 people and wounded another 169,700, according to the Costs of War Project. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. The violence hasn’t been limited to Gaza: Israel has also killed dozens in strikes on Yemen, more than 1,000 people in an attack on Iran in June 2025, and over 4,000 in Lebanon, where entire villages have been razed. Israeli forces have increased raids in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and have invaded and occupied land in both Lebanon and Syria. These operations, researchers found, have been sustained by an uninterrupted flow of US support.
Hartung’s findings, along with a companion report by Linda J. Bilmes of Harvard Kennedy School, indicate that from October 7, 2023, to September 2025, the US spent between $31.35 billion and $33.77 billion on military aid to Israel and US military operations in the region. According to Pars Today, Brown University’s research shows that at least $21.7 billion of this was direct military aid to Israel—$17.9 billion in the first year and $3.8 billion in the second. An additional $10 billion funded US security operations throughout the Middle East.
Documents cited by Pars Today and the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reveal that in the first ten days of the war alone, the US delivered five large shipments of weapons to Israel. The Biden administration, according to these sources, twice bypassed Congressional oversight for weapons sales, including 14,000 tank shells valued at $106.5 million and other arms worth $147.5 million. The White House and Pentagon have declined to answer requests for greater transparency on these deals. Researchers warn that billions more in aid are likely to follow.
Israel’s dependency on US support is not new, but the current scale is unprecedented. The US has long been Israel’s most steadfast ally, making it the largest annual recipient of US foreign aid—about $3.3 billion each year—and the largest cumulative recipient, with more than $150 billion in total aid until 2022, as reported by the Costs of War Project. Both the Biden and Trump administrations committed tens of billions of dollars in arms sales agreements, including future services and weapons deliveries. As Hartung’s report notes, “the Israeli army could not have done the damage they have done in Gaza or escalated their military activities throughout the region without US financing, weapons, and political support.”
Yet, as the war grinds on, American public opinion is shifting. According to a recent Washington Post poll, four in ten American Jews now believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and over 60 percent say Israel has committed war crimes. A 2025 poll from The New York Times and Siena University found that, for the first time since 1998, more American voters sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis: 35 percent side with Palestinians, 34 percent with Israel, and 31 percent are unsure or support both equally. This marks a dramatic reversal from the immediate aftermath of the October 2023 attacks, when 47 percent of American voters sided with Israel and just 20 percent with Palestinians.
The shift in public sentiment is not limited to abstract sympathies. About six out of ten American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, according to the same New York Times poll. And 40 percent of voters believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza—almost double the proportion who held that view in 2023. This growing disapproval is prompting a reassessment of US policy in the region and could have significant political consequences in the years ahead.
Meanwhile, Israel’s conduct in Gaza continues to draw condemnation from the international community. According to Pars Today, Tel Aviv has disregarded United Nations Security Council resolutions and International Court of Justice orders demanding an immediate halt to its military campaign and measures to prevent genocide and alleviate Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The war has resulted in massive destruction, deadly famine, and thousands of deaths and injuries among Palestinians, most of them women and children. Despite calls for restraint, the Israeli government has pressed on, backed by an unyielding stream of American arms and money.
The Costs of War Project’s reports have not only quantified the staggering sums involved but also highlighted the lack of transparency surrounding US aid. The Biden administration’s use of special powers to bypass Congressional review for weapons sales has raised alarm among lawmakers and advocacy groups. The White House and Pentagon’s refusal to respond to transparency requests has only fueled suspicions about the true extent of US involvement.
As researchers warn that billions more in aid are likely to be sent to Israel, the debate within the United States is intensifying. Many Americans, frustrated by the use of their tax dollars to fund a war that has drawn accusations of genocide and war crimes, are demanding a fundamental reassessment of US policy toward Israel. Analysts cited by the Costs of War Project argue that the figures revealed in these reports could become a flashpoint in American politics, especially as the 2026 midterm elections approach.
For decades, US support for Israel was a constant, transcending changes in administration and political winds. Now, as the costs—human and financial—become ever more apparent, that consensus is fracturing. The future of America’s relationship with Israel, and its role in the wider Middle East, hangs in the balance as public opinion shifts and the true price of war comes into focus.
