Israel touts shift in US ties ‘from aid to partnership’

Israel on Friday publicly backed the planned end of U.S. military aid to the Jewish state, describing the move agreed to by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump as a transition “from aid to partnership.”

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office was Israel’s first public response to Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he and Netanyahu had agreed months ago to end the nearly $4 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel.

“U.S. military aid to Israel has always been a cross-the-aisle agreement. Israel has used it both to defend itself and to confront enemies who threaten America and the West,” the Prime Minister’s Office wrote on X.

“Today, Israel has a strong and stable economy. The move by PM Netanyahu and President Trump from aid to partnership shows the strength and sophistication of our relationship, and its ability to adapt and stand strong over time,” it added.

The statement marks a shift from Tuesday, when the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment to JNS after Trump unexpectedly announced the agreement in an interview with Fox News.

Trump said Israel had become economically strong enough that it no longer needed the assistance.

“As far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump said.

“They’re fine with it, because they’ve become a very successful country. They don’t need it, and we won’t be paying any more,” he added.

“By the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” Trump said. “We’ll help Israel if they need it.”

Current aid agreement runs through 2028

Under the 10-year memorandum of understanding negotiated during the Obama administration, Washington provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military assistance. The agreement, which took effect in U.S. federal fiscal year 2019, runs through fiscal year 2028, which ends on Sept. 30, 2028.

Of the annual allocation, $3.3 billion is provided through Foreign Military Financing, much of which Israel uses to purchase U.S.-made weapons systems. Another $500 million is allocated for joint missile-defense programs.

Israel has also received billions of dollars in supplemental U.S. military assistance following the 2021 Gaza war (“Operation Guardian of the Walls”) and the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Trump said Tuesday that ending the annual assistance would not prevent Israel from buying American weapons.

“They can buy whatever they want,” he said.

It remains unclear how the administration intends to end the assistance before the current memorandum expires. Congress has already included billions of dollars in assistance for Israel in legislation for fiscal year 2027, although the relevant measures have yet to complete the legislative process.

Herzog, Huckabee seek clarity

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that Trump’s announcement had caught him by surprise and expressed concern over the future of U.S. military assistance.

“The issue of American aid worries me greatly. Greatly,” Herzog said during consultations with representatives of the Yashar party at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

“It hit me like a bolt out of the blue,” he said, noting that the current memorandum of understanding runs through 2028.

Herzog said preserving Israel’s relationship with the United States was a major priority and cited the issue as another reason to form a government rather than hold another election.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Thursday that it remained unclear whether the assistance would end this year, as Trump said, or when the current agreement expires in 2028.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know that we know the answer to that just yet,” Huckabee told Israel’s Channel 12. “We’re asking for some clarity on that. I’m sure the Israelis are as well.”

Huckabee nevertheless defended the broader U.S.-Israel relationship, saying Americans needed to understand what the United States receives from its partnership with the Jewish state.

“It’s not about what Americans are putting into it. It’s about what they are getting out of it,” he said.

‘Trade, not aid’

Netanyahu has advocated for reducing Israel’s dependence on U.S. military assistance, although before Trump’s announcement he had publicly described a more gradual process.

“I want to taper off the military aid within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told The Economist in January.

Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who co-sponsored a congressional resolution aimed at transitioning away from U.S. aid to Israel after meeting Netanyahu earlier this year, welcomed Trump’s announcement on Tuesday.

“The future of our relationship with Israel has to be trade, not aid,” Hamadeh said. “America first has never meant America alone. It means strong partners, not permanent dependents.”

Trump said the decision would also remove what he described as a political vulnerability for supporters of Israel in the United States.

“The left uses the $4 billion payment, that everybody knows about, and it’s no secret, as a signal of unfairness, and we can’t allow that to happen,” he said.

Trump specifically cited Abdul El-Sayed, the newly elected Democratic senator from Michigan and a vocal critic of U.S. support for Israel.

Eisenkot demanded answers

Trump’s announcement on Election Day drew criticism in Israel, particularly because the change had not previously been publicly confirmed by Netanyahu’s government.

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Yashar, accused Netanyahu on Tuesday of mishandling a major change in Israel’s strategic relationship with Washington.

“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,” Eisenkot said. “Netanyahu must provide answers to Israeli citizens, tonight.”

Friday’s statement provided the Prime Minister’s Office’s first public explanation of the agreement, portraying the planned end of annual military assistance not as a weakening of U.S.-Israel ties but as evidence of an evolving relationship between the allies.

The shift, it said, demonstrates “the strength and sophistication of our relationship, and its ability to adapt and stand strong over time.”