Tens of millions of {dollars} from Israel’s Ministry of Defence and Israeli weapons corporations have gone into the analysis at US universities, however a lot of this cash doesn’t constantly seem in US databases meant to trace overseas funding, based on a Drop Site investigation.
An evaluation of college and state audit data, foreign-funding disclosures and educational paperwork discovered greater than $15 million in funding related to Israel’s Ministry of Defence and Israeli defence producers both not reported or reported inconsistently, based on findings by Antiwar Initiative.
The data cowl the interval from 2004 to 2025 and present monetary hyperlinks between the Israeli defence institution and dozens of US universities.
These embody Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, the College of Connecticut, the College of Tennessee, the College of Maryland, the College of Florida, UC Berkeley, the College of Rhode Island, the College of New Mexico, Washington College in St. Louis and the State College of New York.
The funding was supplied via analysis grants, contracts, tuition funds and different types of help. In some instances, Israel’s Ministry of Defence straight sponsored tasks. In others, Israeli weapons corporations corresponding to Elbit Techniques, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries had been concerned.
One instance comes from the College of Connecticut. State audit data present {that a} challenge known as “Affect Level Prediction Analysis for Brief & Medium Vary Thrusting Projectiles” obtained $668,456 from Israel’s Ministry of Defence over 9 fiscal years between 2013 and 2023.
One other challenge on the college, titled “Excessive Sensitivity SQUIDs for Magnetic Discipline Detection”, obtained $251,336 throughout the identical interval.
At Columbia College, data present two Israeli Ministry of Defence-linked tasks value a mixed $799,190. One challenge on 3D printing of built-in electromechanical programs obtained $469,999 between 2016 and 2021. One other challenge on sensor expertise obtained $329,191 between 2021 and 2024.
The State College of New York’s analysis basis recorded 5 Israeli Ministry of Defence-linked tasks value $949,915 between 2010 and 2021. Florida’s statewide audits additionally recorded $1.19 million in expenditures handed via Israel’s Ministry of Defence between 2012 and 2021, though the data didn’t establish all the schools that obtained the cash.
On the College of Texas at Dallas, researchers developed a video-surveillance system with funding from Elbit Techniques of America. Researchers on the College of Maryland additionally obtained $150,000 for work on the autonomous operation of micro-helicopters and one other $300,000 for analysis into rotorcraft flying at excessive speeds.
Princeton College data present a $600,000 contract for analysis right into a “Pulsed Scalar Atomic Magnetometer”, sponsored by Israel’s Ministry of Defence and the US Defence Safety Cooperation Company.
At Texas Tech College, researchers obtained $400,000 from Israel’s Ministry of Defence for work on a “Sealed Vircator HPM System”. MIT itself has reported about $4 million in Israeli Ministry of Defence-linked tasks between fiscal 2015 and monetary 2024, together with one other $290,000 in fiscal 2025.
“No self-respecting college ought to settle for funding from Israel, given its destabilising, harmful, and inhumane use of US weapons,” mentioned William Hartung, a political scientist and professional on the US arms business and Pentagon budgetary practices.
