A new study says the US has provided at least $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel since the Gaza war began, revealing the growing cost of US involvement.
Reposted from The New Arab, October 07, 2025
The United States, under the Biden and Trump administrations, has provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel since the start of the Gaza war two years ago, according to a new academic study published on October 07, 2025, the second anniversary of the war.
Another study, also published by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, states that the US has spent roughly $10 billion more on security aid and operations in the broader Middle East over the past two years.
While the reports rely on open-source material for most of their findings, they offer some of the most comprehensive accounts of US military aid to close ally Israel and the estimated costs of direct American military involvement in the Middle East.
The State Department had no immediate comment about the amount of military aid provided to Israel since October 2023. The White House referred questions to the Pentagon, which oversees only a portion of the assistance.
The reports, which draw on publicly available notifications to Congress, were released as President Donald Trump presses for an end to the war in Gaza. Israeli and Hamas officials launched indirect talks in Egypt this week after Hamas accepted some elements of the US plan that Israel also said it supported.
The reports, which are sharply critical of Israel, say that without the US assistance, Israel would not have been able to sustain its concerted campaign in the Gaza Strip. They note that tens of billions of dollars in future funding for Israel are projected under various bilateral agreements.
The main report states that the US provided $17.9 billion to Israel in the first year of the offensive, when Democratic President Joe Biden was in office, and $3.8 billion in the second year. Some of the military assistance has already been delivered, while the remainder will be supplied in the coming years, it said.
That report was produced in conjunction with the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The institute has been accused by some pro-Israel groups of being isolationist and anti-Israel, charges the organization denies.
A second report analyzing US spending on broader Middle East activities, such as strikes on Yemen and Iranian nuclear facilities, puts those costs at between $9.65 billion and $12 billion since 7 October 2023, including between $2 billion and $2.25 billion for the attacks in Iran and associated costs in June.
RELATED:
- Pentagon seeks billions in ‘emergency funds’ to restock arms used in defense of Israel
- Israel’s military is taking over Gaza City, and you’ll be paying for it.
- ‘Thousands More Will Die in Gaza, Not From Bombs or Bullets, but From Bureaucratic Decisions’
- Even Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel
- An arms embargo on Israel is not a radical idea — it’s the law
