How US support strengthened Israel and Ukraine in their wars

The United States has been the key ally of Israel and Ukraine in their wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Russia respectively. However, the nature of the support to the warring nations has been different in its own way. 

Be it in terms of military or financial aid, America has been defending Israel and Ukraine since the beginning of the wars as it shares good relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

In comparison, Netanyahu defies US President Joe Biden more bluntly than Zelensky, as the Ukrainian president has been more sympathetic since the war started. 

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Despite the US talks and advice, Zelensky has not been taking meaningful steps to achieve a realistic ceasefire with Russia. However, he is hoping to reclaim all of Ukraine's lost territory by force. 

US support to Ukraine

The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on now for more than two years, in which Washington has been playing a key role in providing military aid to Ukraine in its fight with one of the world's most powerful militaries. 

Since 2022, the US Congress has passed five bills and provided a total of USD 175 billion, mostly for intelligence, weapons, and training. 

A major shift in US support for Ukraine came to light when the Biden administration authorised Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia. 

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This came after Russia positioned North Korean troops along Ukraine's northern border to try to reclaim hundreds of miles of territory seized by Ukrainian forces. 

However, now the situation can change in a larger perspective with Donald Trump coming into the picture as he will soon take over the US administration. 

President-elect Trump's foreign policy approach has always been more isolationist, stressing a focus on "America First". 

This can further affect the wide foreign interventions, especially in Europe and Ukraine. After returning to office, his position on support to Ukraine and NATO could shift, which can further reduce US aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. 

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US support to Israel 

As compared to the past decades, US military aid to Israel has been the highest amid its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the escalating war, over 40,000 Palestinians have died, the United Nations and the Gaza health ministry stated. 

The war began on October 7, last year, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds of people hostage in Gaza. 

Following that, the war has escalated into a wider region, and now, it is not just with Hamas, but also with Hezbollah and Iran. 

The US has spent at least USD 17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war began, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project published in October. 

The US, however, is bound by the Leahy Law, which means that the country cannot provide security assistance to foreign governments or groups that commit gross human rights violations. 

However, some legal scholars have alleged that America has not applied the law in the case of Israel as it has with other West Asian countries. 

Wider point of view

Some US and Israeli analysts have argued that Washington's aid to Israel should be reevaluated because Israel is now a wealthy country, the fourteenth richest per capita and one of the most advanced militaries in the world.

In May 2024, CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook said that US military aid should be phased out over ten years and replaced with a series of bilateral agreements on security cooperation. 

Late Martin S. Indyk, former US ambassador to Israel and CFR Distinguished Fellow, also called for alteration of the aid. 

“The US-Israel relationship would be a lot healthier without this dependence. Time for Israel at seventy-five to stand on its own two feet,” he posted on X in June last year.

Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war has taken a shift weeks before Donald Trump takes over the US administration, as Joe Biden rushes out billions of dollars more in military aid to Ukraine. 

Recently, Trump has been insisting that Russia and Ukraine immediately reach a ceasefire, saying that Ukraine should probably prepare to receive less US military aid. 

(With inputs from agencies)