WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed that the United States would stop paying Israel after the end of this year.
“Now, 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 in a television interview as Americans voted in the midterm elections. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it.”
He said Israel no longer needed the money, and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using it as a talking point against Republicans. In July, the House of Representatives defeated an amendment to cut off aid to Israel by 314 votes to 104.
The remarks go well beyond what has been said publicly before. The current US-Israel agreement, signed in 2016, provides $3.8 billion a year and runs until the 2028 financial year. Netanyahu said in January that he wanted to wean Israel off American aid, at first talking of doing so within 10 years.
It was not immediately clear what form of aid he meant, although the figure is close to the $3.8 billion in military aid. Trump gave no details of how the agreement would be wound down so soon, or what form any future help would take. Congress approves the money, and he did not say whether it had been consulted. There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office in the reports available.
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US military aid. The announcement comes as the two countries remain in a war with Iran that has lasted since February, and as Netanyahu faces a contested post-election period at home.
