US taxpayers paid for missile defense systems that Israel now owns and profits from, while American forces are barred from using them — bad for US sovereignty and defense spending.

• The Iron Beam and Arrow-2 systems were sold to the public as a 50-50 US-Israel partnership, but the US funded and developed them, then Congress handed over the rights.
• Israel Aerospace Industries became the main builder of Arrow-2, while US forces still cannot use a design they paid $4 billion for over 40 years.
• US intelligence warned the technology would leak to China and Russia, and found evidence Israel was passing it to China and hiding it.
• David Pine, who worked in the Pentagon office overseeing Arrow-2, went to Tel Aviv to negotiate access and was turned down.
• A Senate provision known as Section 219 would tie the US military more tightly to the Israeli Defense Forces, with no expiration date requiring renewal.

Outlook: Fighting in Iran has drained US munitions and exposed limits on American military power, and pressure is building to pull troops out of the Middle East and block the Senate merger provision.