For 15 years, dozens of American lawmakers have had the opportunity to see one of the country’s most important â and increasingly debated â alliances firsthand. Since 2011, the U.S.-Israel Education Association (USIEA) has brought members of Congress to Israel, giving them an on-the-ground look at the security, technology and geopolitical issues that often come before them in Washington.
USIEA Founder and President Heather Johnston reflected on the organization’s 15th anniversary in a conversation with . She recalled meeting then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor and presenting him with a list of objectives to advance educational trips to Israel for U.S. lawmakers.
“He was flabbergasted because he had been looking for somebody for two years that could lead those tours,” Johnston said.
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The organization’s first tour included five members of the House Armed Services Committee, and they were shown a brand-new piece of missile defense technology that Johnston said was “just barely off the ground” at the time. The system, known as the Iron Dome, was so new at the time that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to declassify it, so American lawmakers could see the state-of-the-art tech.
Johnston said that the lawmakers were so impressed with Iron Dome’s capabilities that they began the groundwork to increase funding for it. Within a matter of weeks after returning to Washington, the five members of the House Armed Services Committee met with 54 members of Congress. The result came less than three months later when the lawmakers succeeded in tripling the budget for Iron Dome.
“Our commitment to the security of Israel is rock solid. And as I’ve said to the Prime Minister in every single one of our meetings, the United States will always have Israel’s back when it comes to Israel’s security,” Obama said at the time.
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Netanyahu credited Johnston and USIEA with helping strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance.
“For 15 years, Heather Johnston and USIEA have stood proudly for Israel and for the right of the Jewish people to live in our ancestral homeland,” Netanyahu said. “USIEA helped secure support for important American-Israeli joint projects, which contributed to the benefit of the great American-Israeli alliance.”
The Iron Dome funding increase would become one of the many milestones Johnston points to when firsthand exposure preceded major congressional action on U.S.-Israel cooperation. Over the course of 15 years, USIEA expanded its trips as the alliance evolved through multiple administrations, the Abraham Accords and the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman described the relationship between Washington
