PM Netanyahu announces plan to phase out US military aid within a decade

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intends to phase out U.S. military aid within the next decade. He made the remarks during an interview with The Economist published on Friday.

Israel currently receives approximately $3.8 billion in U.S. military assistance annually under a package scheduled for renegotiation in 2028. However, Netanyahu indicated that Israel aims to fully end the U.S. military aid arrangement within 10 years, describing the shift as a process that is already “in motion.”

Netanyahu said Israel should be “as independent as possible,” adding that ending U.S. military aid would strengthen the country’s standing among the American public. For years, anti-Israel pundits have claimed that U.S. military aid to Israel is disproportionate, despite the valuable technology, battlefield experience, and intelligence the United States receives in return.

“I’d like to do everything I can to fight the propaganda war waged against us,” Netanyahu stated. The prime minister, who spent years studying and working in the United States, stressed that he “will continue to fight for the allegiance of the American people.” He assessed Israel’s uphill battle against misinformation as using “cavalry against F-35s” as social media is “flooded… with the fake bots and many other things.”

The Israeli leader compared the hostility towards Israel today with historical hostility against the Jewish people, saying, “The vilifications that were delivered on Jewish people are now delivered on to Jewish state.”

Israel has been accused of committing genocide, “ethnic cleansing,” and deliberately “starving” the people in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, while statistics indicate that the Israeli military has consistently tried to minimize civilian casualties during the war against the Hamas terrorist organization.

Netanyahu compared the current demonization of Israel with the past, saying that Jews were accused of “poisoning the wells, we were spreading vermin, we were slaughtering Christian children for the Passover festival using their blood.”

During the interview, Netanyahu argued that Israel was being held to “an impossible standard” during the war in Gaza, mentioning that he doubts even Winston Churchill would have struggled to conduct World War II under the level of scrutiny Israel faces today.

Regarding the Israeli government's decision to reduce the amount of U.S. aid it receives, there have been some developments since the Fall of 2025.

In September 2025, Israel announced its intention to allocate $60 million to strengthen Israeli defense tech startups amid growing international calls for boycotting Israel. In December, Netanyahu announced that Israel intends to invest $110 billion to boost its defense industry in the next decade.

"We will continue to acquire essential supplies while independently arming ourselves," Netanyahu stated in December. "I don't know if a country can be completely independent but we will strive ... to ensure our arms are produced as much as possible in Israel," he said at the time. "Our goal is to build an independent arms industry for the State of Israel and reduce the dependency on any party, including allies."

In the interview with The Economist, Netanyahu also addressed the threat from Iran and the current anti-regime protests.

Netanyahu said that Iran’s military defeat during the Israel-Iran war in June, along with Tehran’s “terrible mismanagement of their domestic affairs,” including “pouring billions and billions into the terror axis,” is what led to the current massive demonstrations across Iran.

“These two things are meeting now,” Netanyahu explained, “and it may be a moment where the people of Iran take charge of their own destiny. Revolutions are best done from within.”

The prime minister concluded by stressing that the Israel Defense Forces will respond with massive force if the Iranian regime threatens its security.

“If Iran attacks us, which they might, then there will be horrible consequences for Iran. Everything else, I think we should see what is happening inside Iran,” Netanyahu said.

In recent months, Netanyahu has reportedly gained popularity among some Iranians, who see him as a source of hope against the ayatollah regime.