US President Donald Trump says Washington will end its annual financial assistance to Israel by the close of 2026 under an agreement reached with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump made the announcement during a telephone interview with Fox News on Tuesday, November 3, saying the decision had been agreed upon months earlier.
“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.
He added that Israel no longer needed the annual American funding and could purchase weapons from the United States when necessary. Trump also accused Democrats of using US assistance to Israel as a political issue to criticise Republicans.
However, it remains unclear which funding arrangement Trump was referring to. The existing US-Israel memorandum of understanding provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military assistance and is due to expire at the end of 2028.
Netanyahu had previously expressed interest in reducing Israel’s dependence on American financial support. In a May interview with CBS, he said he wanted to bring the assistance down to zero over the next decade, while beginning the process immediately.
“Let's start now and do it over the next decade, over the next ten years, but I want to start now. I don't want to wait for the next Congress. I want to start now,” Netanyahu said.
Israel has been the largest recipient of US foreign assistance since the end of the Second World War.
Although the relationship between the two countries continues to enjoy bipartisan support in Washington, backing among Democrats has weakened, particularly since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
The details of any new arrangement involving US weapons sales or other military support to Israel have not been clarified.
