Netanyahu's Office Says U.S. Military Aid to Israel Will Be Phased Out Gradually, Not Cut Off at Year-End
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media on November 11 that Israel's economy is solid enough to eliminate, gradually, United States military aid, adding that both countries are taking a significant step in the transition from a relationship based on aid to one based on partnership.
It was the prime minister's office's second statement on the aid cutoff in about a week, following a first statement on November 6. This time the office also invoked precedent, recalling that as prime minister in 1996 Netanyahu said Israel would gradually end $1.2 billion a year in U.S. economic support, and that the wind-down was carried out.
The disagreement is over timing. In a Fox News interview in early November, ahead of the midterm elections, President Trump said the United States would stop roughly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel by the end of this year, called the aid wasteful, and said he and Netanyahu had agreed on the step months earlier. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Paris earlier this week that Trump believes Israel is rich enough to buy U.S. weapons without depending on military aid, which could absolutely end by the end of the year if he decided.
The current 10-year memorandum of understanding provides Israel $3.8 billion a year, $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and about $500 million for missile-defense cooperation, and does not expire until the end of September 2028. Neither side has published a specific timetable for a gradual phase-out.
(Source: Office of the Prime Minister of Israel)
Source: Office of the Prime Minister of Israel
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：特朗普与内塔尼亚胡2026年7月28日在白宫椭圆形办公室会晤（资料图）。照片：白宫，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons；本站档案图复用。 / Photo: President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on July 28, 2026 (file photo). Photo by the White House, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; GSM archive reuse.
