US President Donald Trump has announced that US military aid to Israel will end by the close of the year. Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed that Israel no longer needed the grants, which he described as worth $4 billion. Netanyahu’s office did not initially comment on the claimed agreement.
Trump said the proposal came from Netanyahu, who wanted to stop what he called years of “waste.” Israel’s annual US military assistance is currently about $3.8 billion. A 2016 agreement set out $38 billion in aid for the period from 2019 to 2028.
Netanyahu had previously said in interviews this year that he wanted to phase out the annual assistance over a decade, while continuing cooperation with Washington, particularly on missile defense. If the aid ends this year, it would be two years ahead of the schedule reported by Israeli news outlet ynet.
Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief and Netanyahu’s main rival in the latest Israeli parliamentary election, condemned the announcement. He said the close relationship with the United States was central to Israel’s national security and criticized the fact that the public and security establishment had learned of the change through the media. Eisenkot called Netanyahu’s conduct a “real danger” to Israel and said he should be replaced.
Opposition politician Gilad Kariv also accused Netanyahu of putting the country’s security at risk. He said Netanyahu should be required to explain the details of the alleged agreement to a parliamentary committee. Other Israeli commentators described the possible end of aid as a concern, while some argued that it could give Israel greater independence by reducing its obligation to buy US weapons and equipment.
Ynet reported that Israel’s Finance Ministry was surprised by Trump’s announcement. Senior economic officials were quoted as describing the loss of two years of assistance—about $8 billion—as a serious economic decision, with the funds potentially needing to come from taxpayers.
Yaakov Katz, a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, questioned the timing of the announcement on the day of the US midterm elections. He suggested it could be intended to help Republicans in closely contested Senate races, and said the episode reflected growing controversy over military aid to Israel among both Democrats and Republicans. US assistance has faced increased criticism in recent years, particularly amid the Gaza war and Israel’s military operations in the territory.
Sources: Handelsblatt.