The US president said he and Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to end annual assistance after December, adding that Washington could still help if needed. His election-day interview left the aid categories and implementation unclear. Existing military assistance operates under a memorandum running to 2028, while Congress controls appropriations.
Geopolitics··Night
Election-day interview
US President Donald Trump told Fox News on 3 November that Washington would stop providing annual aid to Israel after the end of December. He said he had reached an understanding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu months earlier, and described an annual sum of 4 billion dollars. Trump also said assistance could continue if Israel needed it. When asked whether he meant military support or a cash payment, he did not draw a firm distinction. The interview set out his intended policy, while leaving the categories affected and the means of implementing it unclear.[1], [2]
Existing military assistance
The United States currently provides Israel with 3.8 billion dollars in annual military assistance under a ten-year memorandum that began in 2018 and expires in 2028. Israel uses that support to buy American weapons, with the funds ultimately reaching US arms manufacturers. Congress appropriates the money. Al Jazeera reported that the State Department had not immediately answered its request for comment and that neither Netanyahu’s office nor Israel’s foreign minister had confirmed the move. CNN also sought further details from the White House and Netanyahu’s office after the interview. The reported announcement preceded any explanation of how the existing arrangement would be changed.[1], [2]
Earlier talks and congressional action
Trump explicitly linked his announcement to domestic political arguments over aid, referring to criticism from Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Netanyahu had previously spoken of ending US military assistance, and the two governments began formal talks in May about a successor to the existing memorandum. CNN reported that no agreed framework was clear. Separately, the House of Representatives passed its annual defence bill in July with a provision to deepen US-Israeli cooperation on defence technology. That proposal covered research, production and technology; its passage through the House formed part of continuing congressional consideration of the military relationship.[1], [2]
In July, the House also rejected a proposal to end assistance to Israel, by 314 votes to 104. Republican representative Thomas Massie had offered it as an amendment to a State Department spending bill. Nearly half of House Democrats supported the measure, according to Al Jazeera’s account of the vote.[1]
