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Aviram Hasson, director of the Israeli Ministry of Defense\u2019s mission to the United States and Canada. Credit: Israeli Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have an available slot for a 747 cargo plane on a specific date and time, you need to make sure that all the procurement items will arrive at the same time to the airport, because you cannot store it in the airport,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re leaving the company. They have to be all on the exact minute, because you have a two-hour window after the plane lands. It has to be booked or filled,\u201d Hasson said. \u201cIt should go to Israel. It\u2019s a different kind of work, but it\u2019s working on the bits and the bytes of everything\u2014of how long it takes from the factory to the runway. How long it will take to load it, and who will load it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fully different world,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cIt causes white hair as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hasson spoke at length to JNS from New York, during a meeting that his staff said must take place over video rather than in person as a precondition.<\/p>\n
He told JNS that the world is becoming more dangerous everywhere, and Jew-hatred can be seen in every corner of the world, from Australia and Belgium to France, Spain and Canada. And the United States, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should not overlook the signs,\u201d Hasson said. \u201cI think that the past three years not only grew antisemitism but also caused all kinds of hidden antisemites to come out of the closet.\u201d<\/p>\n
JNS asked about the Jewish state\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to move its defense attach\u00e9 from Ottawa to Washington. Iddo Moed, Israeli ambassador to Canada, told JNS that the decision to move the role to Washington wasn\u2019t due to eroding relations between Israel and Canada, which has recognized a Palestinian state and which has increasingly tense governmental relations with Israel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An Arrow anti-ballistic missile interceptor rises on a column of fire as it is launched from a mobile launching platform during a joint Israel\/United States developmental test at the Point Mugu Sea Range, Calif., on Aug. 26, 2004. Credit: U.S. Department of Defense\/Courtesy.<\/p>\n Still, a spokesman for Moed told JNS that the ambassador \u201cdoubted\u201d that a robust defense partnership with Canada \u201cis feasible with a non-resident attach\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of constraints with Canada,\u201d Hasson told JNS. \u201cYou see a lot of actions that we used to do with them together, joined by them, have been stopped dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe laid the foundation for alternate solutions. As long as they decide to continue to withhold cooperation with the State of Israel, we will seek alternate solutions,\u201d he said. \u201cWe usually stationed an attach\u00e9 where there is collaboration. Where there\u2019s no collaboration, there\u2019s no need for somebody to sit there and waste the taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Whatever it needs\u2019<\/p>\n Hasson oversees a mission that is responsible for all of the Defense Ministry\u2019s procurement on behalf of the Israeli military in the United States.<\/p>\n It used to manage some $3.8 billion in annual support funds from the American government, $.5 billion of which was for developing and procuring active defense systems and $3.3 billion for buying new platforms, maintenance, spare parts and related needs. The mission would field requests from the Israel Defense Forces for \u201cwhatever it needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHumvees, weapons, armament, planes, each and every platform, whether it\u2019s helicopters or fighter jets,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are responsible for the discussion and the negotiation with the manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n The mission\u2019s responsibility begins when the Israeli military mentions the need and it ends when the items arrive in Israel.<\/p>\n Since 2023, the budget that the mission handles has been twice the annual one prior to Oct. 7. In September 2024, Israel received $3.5 billion<\/a> in special aid from the Biden administration. (U.S. President Donald Trump, and others, have said<\/a> that the Biden administration withheld certain weapons from Israel, including 2,000 pound bombs.)<\/p>\n In 2025 and 2026, Israel added another $3 billion from its national funds for \u201cmassive procurement from the United States,\u201d Hasson told JNS.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are keeping all our channels open with the American industries,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know exactly what we need. They know exactly when we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Defense Ministry told JNS that since Oct. 7, its mission to the United States has \u201cled one of the largest sustained logistics operations in Israel\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo date, well over 1,000 cargo aircraft and more than 150 vessels have delivered upwards of 130,000 tons of munitions, armored vehicles and military equipment to Israel\u2014an air and sea bridge that has continued without interruption through \u2018Operation Roaring Lion\u2019 and \u2018Operation Rising Lion\u2019 against Iran,\u201d the ministry said. \u201cAlongside this logistics effort, the mission has anchored a series of landmark procurement agreements that reinforce Israel\u2019s qualitative military edge for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n That procurement includes \u201ca third F-35 \u2018Adir\u2019 squadron expanding the Israeli Air Force\u2019s stealth fleet to 75 aircraft, 25 advanced F-15IA fighters valued at $5.2 billion, the first Iron Dome interceptor contract signed under the aid package with Rafael and new KC-46 \u2018Gideon\u2019 refueling tankers, CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters and hundreds of joint light tactical vehicle and high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle ground vehicles for IDF forces,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n In 2025, Israel broke its record of defense exports for the fifth year in a row, with $19.2 billion\u2014about a 30% increase from 2024 and more than double the amount five years prior and four times a decade prior, per the ministry.<\/p>\n In addition to procurement, the mission maintains ties with bereaved North American families and wounded veterans and partners with Jewish groups and philanthropists to support the wellness and rehabilitation of the Israeli military.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Iron Dome aerial interceptions of Hamas rockets in southern Israel. Credit: Oren Ravid\/Shutterstock.<\/p>\n He and his team of 200 people, mostly in New York but some on military bases in the rest of the country, procure items for the Jewish state via military channels, starting with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, an agency within the U.S. Defense Department. (Hasson refers to the latter as the \u201cWar Department,\u201d which is also the name that U.S. President Donald Trump uses.)<\/p>\n \u201cI think we are its biggest client,\u201d Hasson said. \u201cThey are all very committed and very responsive to our needs. Needless to mention that since Oct. 7, most of them are used to working weekends and supporting Israel by all means.\u201d<\/p>\n The mission also works with branches of the U.S. military directly, including the Air Force, Army and Navy, Hasson said.<\/p>\n \u2018An odd bird\u2019<\/p>\n JNS asked Hasson if his background in research and development has served him well in his job.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a bit of an odd bird in this role, because I\u2019m not a procurement specialist. I\u2019m an engineer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hasson used to work on the development of the Arrow weapon system, Iron Dome and David\u2019s Sling in the Defense Ministry.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a specialist, but I\u2019m aware of the procurement processes, as my army service was related to procurement,\u201d he said. \u201cI was responsible for the Hawk and the Patriot system. I used to do a lot of procurement processes as an officer in the Israeli Air Force, with the help of the Ministry of Defense.\u201d<\/p>\n His background has helped \u201ca lot,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2025. Credit: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech\/U.S. Department of Defense.<\/p>\n \u201cSome processes need acceleration. There is a need to think outside the box. In war, there\u2019s a huge difference if the armaments arrive today or in a month or two,\u201d he said. \u201cThat might be at the end of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n His team has expertise in areas including airfields, infantry and technology, and there is a special transportation team that makes sure, for example, that items that leave Cincinnati or San Antonio arrive in Israel the next day.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s been happening during the past two and a half years is tremendous,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n Even when airports in Israel have been closed amid missile attacks, equipment has continued to fly to the Jewish state, according to Hasson.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are dealing with war, you are managing your risks, and our partners flew 24\/7 throughout the war, throughout missiles falling in Israel, bringing everything,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cThey had an extra amount of fuel, making sure if there\u2019s a missile attack on Israel, they do some circles above the Mediterranean waiting for it to stop or to be intercepted, and then they would have landed, disembarked and continued their mission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat shows some of the strength of this logistics chain that has been built here to fulfill the IDF needs by all means every day, every night, in any circumstances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Days instead of years<\/p>\n Hasson didn\u2019t want to name particular companies, for fear, he said, of them being harassed or sabotaged for working with the Jewish state, but he told JNS that the companies with which Israel works \u201cunderstand the time of need.\u201d<\/p>\n One company in the middle part of the United States escalated its production from 150 units monthly to that same number daily, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking shifts, doubling lines, doubling efforts, and I think most of our partners\u2014that\u2019s what I call those manufacturers\u2014understood the necessity, whether it\u2019s from the U.S. armament forces or whether from Israel or other clients, because everybody\u2019s now piling up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since it has been essential to accelerate delivery of weaponry, Israel has bought \u201clong-lead items\u201d in advance though it doesn\u2019t need them immediately.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, discusses logistics with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Eyal Zamir, chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, in the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel, Oct. 29, 2025. Credit: Staff Sgt. Michael Ito\/U.S. Army Photo.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you are taking the long-lead items procurement time out of the equation. Then you have only to build the items while you have all the ingredients on the table,\u201d Hasson said. \u201cThat makes a lot of manufacturing processes very quick.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of Israel\u2019s \u201cpartners\u201d also made materials on spec, even before Israel presented them with procurement orders, according to Hasson.<\/p>\n \u201cThey started building the item before we even approached them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said, \u2018We know you\u2019re going to ask us. They\u2019re ready.\u2019 In this way, I think Israel gained a lot of goodwill and trust with our partners, and we\u2019re trying to make sure that it will continue as long as the war continues.\u201d<\/p>\n From Hasson\u2019s perspective, the U.S. government is providing Israel with everything it needs, and the process is going quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe administration is very committed to supporting us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He understands that politics is a factor stateside, as it is in Israel, and politicians often talk to their bases rather than saying what they mean.<\/p>\n \u201cI think time will tell, but I\u2019m not a fortune teller,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cI live here in the United States. I hear what people say. I\u2019m following the votes in the Senate, but I still think that Israel is the last barricade from a very wild neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael is not doing its own battles, and I think everybody knows that. If Israel fails\u2014I don\u2019t want to say it loudly but if it happens, I think that\u2019s only the first stone that caused the whole collapse,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not Israel. The problem is Western culture. Israel is just very close and very near, and I think we are doing the whole world war against those who praise murder, those who praise terror, those who praise laws which do not support democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are standing in front of the line,\u201d he said. \u201cIsrael is working to defend the State of Israel and the West with its own troops. We don\u2019t ask anybody to fight for us. We are fighting by ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An American and Israeli flag sit on a conference table as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work prepares to meet with Israeli Director General of the Ministry of Defense Dan Harel at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., to discuss matters of mutual importance, Oct. 20, 2014. Credit: Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz\/U.S. Defense Department.<\/p>\n He showed JNS a map, which he said shows how much money\u2014both aid and cash\u2014Israel spends in each state in the United States. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge amount. More than $7 billion was invested in Texas in the past three years. In Arizona, $458 million. In California, 210. In Wyoming, 131. In Michigan, 359. The amounts are very big, and that\u2019s actually a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n Only Iran should be troubled<\/p>\n JNS asked Hasson to what extent, if at all, those who care about the Jewish state should have trouble sleeping at night when they read news stories about Israel running low on interceptor missiles.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the Israeli defense industry especially is very resilient, and I think they know how to adapt to the new situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hasson noted that there used to be a joke that Israelis would decide whether to worry if a missile was headed for the country based on its origin, and if it was from Yemen, no one would worry.<\/p>\n \u201cInvention comes from a need and since the industries are very resilient, I think that during the war, we did a lot of tweaks and tricks to our defense system to make sure that they are always more efficient,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is no 100% guarantee that each missile will be intercepted. But I think that if you are checking it on percentage of success, I think the final number that I recall, and I might be mistaken so you have to check me on that. I think it was 94%.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokeswoman for the director cut in. \u201c92% during the recent operation \u2018Roaring Lion,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd in the previous operation \u2018Rising Lion,\u2019 it was 86.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, that shows you what we call \u2018battlefield learning,\u2019 meaning each and every miss is downloaded in a matter of minutes and goes into the debriefing systems,\u201d he said. \u201cThe debriefing systems show what\u2019s happening, whether it\u2019s early detonation, late detonation. It could be a huge amount of issues, and it is fixed for the next night of war.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A U.S. cargo plane arrives in Israel with armored vehicles, Oct. 19, 2023. Credit: Israeli Ministry of Defense Spokesperson\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n That means that on the same day, people go with disks or flash drives \u201cinto the systems and upgrade them and make sure that every patch is installed as soon as possible,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cOf course with a lot of responsibility, because you don\u2019t want to put another problem when fixing problems.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you see here is a growing percentage of success,\u201d he said. \u201cIron Dome started in the low 80s and now we are speaking in the high 90s.\u201d<\/p>\n From Iran\u2019s perspective, just eight out of 100 missiles penetrated Israeli defense systems. \u201cI would choose other ways to attack,\u201d Hasson told JNS. \u201cI don\u2019t think they have other ways, but I don\u2019t think that 8% success can be called a tremendous success.\u201d<\/p>\n And when it comes to news reports of Israeli interceptor wells running dry, Hasson noted that \u201cthose lines are in Israel, so we can recruit all our engineers and all our workers to make sure that they are supporting this incentive and important line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNobody should be troubled except the Iranians about the number of the interceptors we have, because we do have solutions by all means,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The partnership between Israel and the United States draws on the strengths of each partner, according to Hasson. \u201cIsrael is very small, very agile,\u201d he said. \u201cThe United States is very good in knowledge as well but in production and heavy machinery.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that we can find together how to utilize each nation\u2019s strength,\u201d he told JNS, \u201cand make sure that it will bring better products.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Arrow](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785270430_688_.webp\")
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