As votes were being counted in the US midterm elections, US President Trump (Donald Trump) announced that the United States will stop providing Israel with roughly $4 billion in annual military aid after the end of this year, though the US will still offer assistance if needed in the future, and arms sales between the two sides will continue.
Trump made the remarks in a phone interview on Fox News’ program 《Fox & Friends》, admitting that military aid to Israel has become an issue used by Democrats to attack the Republican Party, and he singled out Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who opposes unconditional military aid. Trump added that Israel is now highly successful and prosperous and no longer needs the aid, and that the idea of ending the military aid was raised by Netanyahu himself, with the two sides having discussed it for some time.
When asked whether the halt applies to military aid or cash grants, Trump said it could be defined either way, but neither the White House nor Netanyahu’s office has yet issued an official explanation of the details.
The current US-Israel military aid agreement is a 10-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2016, covering fiscal years 2019 to 2028, totaling $38 billion, or an average of $3.8 billion per year. Of that, $33 billion is for the purchase of US-made weapons, with another $5 billion for missile defense. Under the agreement, Israel must use 92% of its military financing grants to purchase US products in 2026 and 2027, rising to 100% in 2028.
The sudden news sent shockwaves through Israel. In fact, the idea of gradually ending US military aid to Israel has been openly discussed this year, first raised by Netanyahu. The two sides had originally discussed phasing out the aid over 10 years, but Trump has now brought the timeline forward to the end of this year, a departure from what had been discussed, catching Israeli officials off guard.
According to ABC, officials from Israel’s Finance Ministry were surprised by Trump’s announcement, noting that future annual budgets were drawn up based on the existing agreement. The Jerusalem Post also cited defense sources as expressing confusion over the accelerated termination of the aid.
The announcement came at a time of political turmoil in Israel. Israel held a parliamentary election on October 27, with Netanyahu’s bloc winning 53 of 120 seats — in the lead but short of the 61 seats needed to form a government. The main opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc took 48 seats, and coalition talks are expected to be extremely difficult.
Eisenkot criticized the decision, saying the special US-Israel relationship bears on national security, yet the defense establishment learned of the policy change at the same time as the media, showing that Netanyahu’s way of conducting affairs has endangered national security, and demanding that he immediately explain to the public.
