(1) In June 2017, the Assistant Secretary of 
State for Political-Military Affairs testified to Con-
gress, ‘‘Arms transfers are foreign policy. When we 
transfer a system or a capability to a foreign part-
ner, we are affecting regional—or foreign internal— 
balances of power; we are sending a signal of sup-
port; and we are establishing or sustaining relation-
ships that may last for generations and provide ben-
efits for an extended period of time.’’. 
(2) For more than 50 years, the United States 
has worked to ensure Israel’s qualitative military 
edge when considering the sale or export of defense 
articles and defense services to Israel or to others in 
the Middle East region. 
(3) Maintaining a substantial qualitative mili-
tary edge is critical to preserving Israel’s safety and 
security and has been a vital consideration in all 
previous sales of weapons to the region. 
(4) Congress codified United States support for 
Israel’s qualitative military edge as United States 
policy in 2008 in section 201 of Public Law 110– 
429 (22 U.S.C. 2776 note), which requires that any 
proposed U.S. arms sale to ‘‘any country in the Mid-
dle East other than Israel’’ must include a notifica-
tion to Congress with a ‘‘determination that the sale 
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or export of such would not adversely affect Israel’s 
qualitative military edge over military threats to 
Israel’’. 
(5) In 2016, the United States and Israel 
signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding, in 
which the United States committed that ‘‘the acqui-
sition of additional U.S.-produced capabilities and 
technology provide the best means to ensure Israel 
preserves its Qualitative Military Edge (QME)’’. 
(6) In 2015, Vice President Joe Biden an-
nounced United States intention to transfer the F– 
35 Joint Strike Fighter to Israel: ‘‘What you may 
not know is that next year, we will deliver to Israel 
the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter—our finest—making 
Israel the only country in the Middle East with a 
fifth-generation aircraft. No other.’’. 
(7) In 2016, Israel received its first shipment of 
F–35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and on the occa-
sion, the Israeli Defense Forces stated, ‘‘As the Mid-
dle East grows more and more unstable, and as 
groups that threaten to destroy us race to stockpile 
weapons, we need to stay a step ahead of the game. 
The F–35 gives us the edge we need to take on 
groups and armies with even the most advanced 
technology.’’. 
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SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It shall be the policy of the United States that a pro-
posed sale or export of defense articles or defense services 
must be determined not to adversely affect Israel’s ability 
to counter and defeat any credible conventional military 
threat from any individual state or possible coalition of 
states or from non-state actors, while sustaining minimal 
damages and casualties, through the use of superior mili-
tary means possessed in sufficient quantity, including 
weapons, command, control, communication, intelligence, 
surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities that in their 
technical characteristics are superior in capability to those 
of such other individual state or possible coalition states 
or non-state actors, consistent with section 36(h) of the 
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)). 
SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION ON CRITERIA FOR TRANSFER OF 
COVERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND DEFENSE 
SERVICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c) and (d), 
and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Presi-
dent may not transfer covered defense articles or defense 
services to any country in the Middle East other than 
Israel until at least 60 days after the date on which the 
President transmits to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a certification described in subsection (b) with re-
spect to the proposed transfer. 
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(b) CERTIFICATION DESCRIBED.—A certification de-
scribed in this subsection is a certification in writing of 
the following: 
(1) The recipient country has signed an agree-
ment of peace or normalization with Israel. 
(2) The transfer of the covered defense articles 
or defense services includes a determination pursu-
ant to section 36(h) of the Arms Export Control Act 
(22 U.S.C. 2776(h)). 
(3) The transfer of the covered defense articles 
or defense services does not present a significant 
danger of compromising the critical military and 
technological military advantage such articles or 
services provide to the United States Armed Forces. 
(4) The transfer of the covered defense articles 
or defense services will not negatively affect Israel’s 
qualitative military edge. 
(5) The covered defense articles have been 
modified to ensure that Israel is able to identify, lo-
cate, and continually track such articles while in 
flight at a distance that is satisfactory to Israel, and 
that the recipient country will not alter such modi-
fications. 
(6) The recipient country has provided specific, 
reliable, and verifiable assurances to the United 
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States that it will protect the covered defense arti-
cles and defense services from theft or diversion of 
sensitive defense technology to any other country or 
non-state actor. 
(7) The recipient country has provided specific, 
reliable, and verifiable assurances to the United 
States that it will not use the covered defense arti-
cles or defense services to commit, or enable the 
commission of, a violation of international humani-
tarian law or internationally recognized human 
rights. 
(8) The recipient country has provided specific, 
reliable, and verifiable assurances to the United 
States that it will not make transfers of the covered 
defense articles or defense services to another coun-
try or non-state actor without specific authorization 
from the United States. 
(9) Except as provided in subsection (e), the re-
cipient country has provided specific, reliable, and 
verifiable assurances to the United States that it will 
employ the covered defense articles and defense serv-
ices when armed only after consultation with the 
United States relating to the mission, flight plan, 
and purpose of use of the articles and services. 
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