The US House of Representatives has advanced a proposal that would require the Pentagon to open a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) office in Israel as part of the annual defense policy bill for fiscal year 2026.
Led by Iowa Rep. Zach Nunn, the move would see the Department of Defense (Department of War) establish the hub in Israel within six months of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Establishing a US-Israel Defense Innovation Field Office would strengthen the “coordination with one of America’s closest allies. This bipartisan measure enhances battlefield readiness and ensures US and Israeli forces stay ahead of emerging threats in a volatile region,” Nunn said.
In the amendment offered by Nunn, the facility in Israel would “engage appropriate counterparts of the Ministry of Defense of Israel and representatives of the private sector in collaborative efforts to counter developments by Iran, China, and other adversaries of dual-use defense technologies.”
The facility would also “leverage resources and innovation activities of the United States and Israel for the benefit of the national security of the United States and Israel; identify Israeli innovations and technological competitive advantages that can be incorporated and integrated into the United States defense industrial base; and carry out such other functions of the Defense Innovation Unit in Israel as the director of the Unit considers appropriate.”
As Congress works to finalize the defense bill, Nunn’s provision still needs to move through the Senate before becoming law.
Established in 2015, the DIU initially focused on speeding up the Pentagon’s adoption of commercial technology at a faster and cheaper rate than traditional government methods, allowing for quicker fielding to solve operational challenges at scale. It has since shifted its focus to technologies that would be vital to future conflicts, such as space, autonomous systems, cyber, telecom, and more.
To further its objectives, DIU has engaged in cooperation agreements with multiple countries, such as the UK, Singapore, Japan, and the UAE. In May, the DoD announced that it would be establishing a “comprehensive” US-UAE Major Defense Partnership, with the DIU and Tawazun Council signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen defense cooperation and “enhance mutual capacity for finding solutions to military requirements” by developing and accessing cutting-edge technologies through non-traditional processes.
The MoU “supports DIU’s strategic efforts to deepen international partnerships and quickly evolve the instruments of defense innovation and acquisition in concert with the commercial defense sector globally,” said a press release by the DoD.
“By building a strong international community of defense innovation entities among allies and partners, DOD is enhancing best practices for harnessing and sharing the best commercially derived technologies for the warfighters in defense of the free and open international system, through mission-driven collaboration among the many nations that rely on that system globally.”
Last year, the unit received close to $1 billion from the National Defense Authorization Act.
Israel’s Defense Ministry had no comment.