New Act Speeds Up Middle East Defense Sales, Cutting Congressional Review to Just 15 Days

The newly proposed Abraham Accords Defense Against Terror Act is essentially a fast-pass lane for selling weapons and defense services to allies in the Middle East and North Africa. The core idea is simple: if a country has normalized diplomatic relations with Israel and is actively working with the U.S. to fight threats from Iran and its proxies (like Hezbollah or the Houthis), they get priority treatment for defense transfers.

The Fast-Track for Foreign Policy

What this bill does is formalize a U.S. policy to enhance security cooperation in the region, specifically targeting threats from Iran. For countries that qualify—meaning they’ve made peace with Israel and are helping push back against Iranian influence—the process for approving major defense sales, leases, or exports gets significantly streamlined. Typically, Congress has a longer period to review and potentially block these sales. Under this new Act, the President only has to notify Congress 15 calendar days before approving the deal. That’s a tight window, which means Congress has less time to scrutinize multi-million dollar arms transfers.

The Trade-Off: Speed vs. Oversight

This speed boost is a major point of interest. On one hand, it’s designed to get crucial defensive gear to allies quickly, which makes sense if you’re trying to counter a rapidly evolving threat. For instance, if a partner nation needs a new missile defense system to protect against drone attacks, this bill aims to cut through the bureaucratic red tape. On the other hand, the reduced 15-day review period means Congress, which is supposed to provide oversight, has significantly less time to ask tough questions about the sale, who is getting the technology, and what the long-term strategic impact might be. When the stakes are this high—we’re talking about potentially billions of dollars in advanced weaponry—giving up oversight time is a real concern.

Protecting the Tech and the Edge

To balance the speed, the bill mandates a few important safeguards. When the President notifies Congress of a sale, they must include a detailed explanation of how the transfer supports the policy against Iranian threats. Crucially, the notification must also detail the steps taken to ensure that sensitive U.S. technology won't fall into the hands of the People's Republic of China or the Russian Federation. This requirement acknowledges the modern reality that even allies can sometimes be vulnerable to technology leakage.

There’s also a mandatory protection clause: the Act explicitly states that nothing in it can be read to undermine Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME). This means that even as the U.S. speeds up sales to Israel’s new regional partners, it must ensure that Israel remains technologically superior to its neighbors, maintaining the long-standing U.S. commitment to Israel’s security.

The Strategy Scorecard

Beyond just speeding up sales, the Secretary of State is required to submit a comprehensive strategy report to Congress every 60 days. Think of this as a regular progress report on the region. This report must cover everything from the current threats posed by Iran and its proxies, how the U.S. is measuring success in this regional cooperation, and any challenges in making U.S. and partner forces work together smoothly (interoperability issues). It even requires an assessment of past sales over $25 million that have been pending for the last five years, with suggestions on how to speed up those deliveries. This regular reporting aims to keep Congress informed, even if the notification window for individual sales is shorter.