U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview on Tuesday that he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut off U.S. aid to the Jewish state by the end of the year.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump said that the annual aid money had become a political liability that has been exploited by anti-Israel candidates like Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan.
“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.”
“By the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel,” he said. “We’ll help Israel if they need it.”
Under the terms of the 10-year memorandum of understanding that Israel and the United States agreed to during the Obama administration, Israel has received $3.8 billion in military aid since the 2019 fiscal year and is due to continue receiving that money until the 2028 fiscal year.
Israel also received billions of dollars in supplemental appropriations after the 2021 Gaza war and in 2024 after the Oct. 7 attacks.
Of the annual money that Israel receives, $500 million is dedicated to missile defense cooperation. The remainder is typically used to purchase American materiel, like F-35 strike fighters.
Trump told Fox News that Israel would still be able to purchase American arms. “They can buy whatever they want,” he said.
“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. “Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they don’t need it?”
JNS sought comment from the Israeli prime minister’s office. Netanyahu has not yet commented publicly on the apparent decision to cut off aid.
Netanyahu has previously said that U.S. aid to Israel should be ended gradually.
“I want to taper off the military aid within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told the Economist in January.
It’s unclear how exactly Trump intends to cut off the aid. The House included billions of dollars in aid to Israel in the 2027 State Department appropriations bill and National Defense Authorization Act earlier this year. Those bills have yet to pass the Senate.
It is also unlikely that the move will placate anti-Israel Democrats in Congress, who have increasingly demanded that the United States cut off arms sales to Israel, in addition to cutting off military aid.
