On November 29, 1983 a memorandum of agreement was set up between Israel and the United States regarding political, military and economic cooperation. Part of the agreement was for a Joint Political Military Group (JPMG) as a high-level planning forum to discuss and implement combined planning, joint exercises, and logistics. The JPMG is co-chaired by the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the U.S. assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs. The JPMG meets biannually, alternating between Israel and the United States.

The JPMG was originally intended to discuss means of countering Soviet involvement in the Middle East. But more recently the concern has been over the spread of chemical weapons and ballistic missiles.