Trump causes uproar by saying $4 billion US military aid to Israel will stop by end of 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump caused an uproar in Israel on Tuesday by suggesting that U.S. military aid to Israel, which is currently scheduled to continue at least until 2028, would be winding down by the end of this year.

“We were giving them $4 billion – we are – but it gets cut off at the end of the year,” Trump told Fox & Friends on the morning of the midterm elections.

“We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it,” he said, adding the decision came after being approached by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “and we’ve been talking about it for a couple of years because it’s a lot of money… He brought it up. He said, ‘I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid.’”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Trump had misspoken or whether his comments constituted a policy change that the Israeli government hadn’t yet revealed. The current military assistance agreement was signed on Sept. 14, 2016, and includes a commitment to provide Israel with $38 billion through 2028.

Notably, Trump’s comments came on the morning of the midterms and included several references to the campaign. Support for Israel has become a political target, he said, so “why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an [Michigan Senate contender Abdul] El-Sayed when they don't need it?”

He also argued that cutting aid to Israel would contribute to a balanced budget. “If we had a fed that got interest rates down,” he said, “we would have a balanced budget quickly. It's a shame, the interest rates.”

After the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas invasion, the Biden administration approved an additional package of around $14 billion that was reportedly raised to $17.6 billion two months ago. Large amounts of the aid are provided in the form of vouchers for the Israeli military to buy equipment from U.S. companies.

“It is quite possible that Trump was not precise in his remarks and meant that the aid would be stopped in the near future,” said Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh. “Ending the aid as early as the end of this year was not part of the discussions between the US and Israel, nor was it agreed upon officially through the accepted channels between the countries’ defense establishments.”

Despite the lack of clarity in Trump’s comments, Netanyahu’s political opponents quickly used them to attack the prime minister. Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot argued that “the fact that the security establishment, along with Israeli citizens, is learning about a change in the strategic relationship framework through the media highlights just how much Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct poses a genuine danger.”

“Netanyahu must provide answers to Israeli citizens, tonight,” he said. The prime minister had not commented on the issue before the time of publication.

Officials in the Finance Ministry told Walla News it was aware of the intention to end the aid “but was surprised by the intention to do so immediately.” Speaking to Ynet News, another official warned that “giving up two years of aid is $8 billion. Where will we get this? It’s clear – from citizens’ taxes.”

However, at least one of Netanyahu’s allies welcomed Trump’s statement. “The cessation of aid is not a threat. It is liberation. It is time to return to being a free people in our own land,” wrote Zehut party chairman, Moshe Feiglin.

“In economic terms, this is a negligible sum out of Israel’s gross national product – not to mention that the United States receives from Israel, in value equivalent to money, in intelligence, technological developments, and the holding back of fronts, much more than it transfers here in procurement vouchers for its own arms industries,” he argued.

Netanyahu has previously said he wants U.S. aid to gradually decline after the current agreement expires. A future arrangement was reportedly being discussed as a framework based on cooperation rather than solely on military assistance.

Speaking to the Economist during a visit to the U.S. in January, Netanyahu said that he intended to “reduce military aid over the next 10 years.”

Last month, the prime minister also warned that relations with the U.S. could deteriorate in the future. “In two years, a president could come to power, a man or a woman, who is very hostile to Israel. How will you deal with that? How will you operate vis-à-vis the United States?”

Ariel Kahane, Israel Hayom’s senior diplomatic correspondent, said he had reported months ago that the two countries had “agreed a long time ago to move from American aid to cooperation.” He noted that Trump was describing a process that had been underway for some time, shaped by “many important discussions” led by Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Amir Baram.

Yaakov Katz, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, said the timing of Trump’s statement on election day “is deeply concerning.”

“By announcing an early cutoff now, Trump gets to claim a political victory: he cut an entire year of assistance to Israel, saving American taxpayers roughly $4 billion. The timing is no coincidence.”

“Trump appears to think cutting aid to Israel and announcing it today can potentially help Republicans in closely contested Senate races. That tells us something about how divisive American military assistance to Israel has become, not just among Democrats but increasingly among Republicans. Israelis need to wake up and understand the full consequences of what this means,” urged Katz.