Trump says US aid to Israel will end. Arms sales will continue
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to end roughly $4 billion in annual US funding for Israel after December. Israel would still be able to buy American weapons, Trump said. He did not explain how the two governments would bring the payments to an end before the existing military aid agreement expires in September 2028.
Speaking to reporters as Americans voted in the midterm elections, Trump said Netanyahu had raised the idea and that the two had reached an agreement months ago. Trump argued that Israel could afford to pay for its weapons, while leaving open the possibility of future US assistance if Israel needed it. Reuters reported that neither Netanyahu’s office nor the White House had responded to its requests for details.
The existing agreement funds weapons and missile defence
The figure Trump cited is close to the $3.8 billion a year set out in the memorandum the two countries signed in 2016 under President Barack Obama. The ten-year pledge covers $33 billion in military financing, which helps Israel purchase defence equipment, and a separate $5 billion for missile defence. Congress appropriates the funding.
The timing changes what is at stake for Israel’s defence budget. Washington and Israel had already been discussing how their relationship would work after the current agreement expired. Trump’s timetable would bring the change forward by nearly two years. He did not specify whether the proposed cutoff would cover both weapons financing and missile defence, or how it would affect funds Congress has already approved.
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