Trump says US will stop giving Israel $4bn a year in aid
The US president says he reached a deal with Netanyahu months ago, but it remains unclear when funding will end
Donald Trump has said the US will stop giving Israel around $4 billion (£2.98 billion) a year in aid by the end of 2026, following an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US president said the two leaders had agreed to end the payments months ago, arguing that Israel no longer needed American financial support.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said: “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.”
However, it remains unclear how the decision will affect an existing agreement under which the US gives Israel $3.8 billion a year, mainly to help pay for its military.
That agreement is not due to end until 2028, two years after Trump’s proposed deadline.
Trump said the two leaders had already discussed ending the payments.
“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,” he told Fox News.
He added that Israel would still be able to buy weapons from the US if needed.
Netanyahu has previously said he wants Israel to stop relying on American aid, although he had proposed doing so over a longer period.
In an interview with CBS in May, the Israeli prime minister said he wanted to reduce the funding to zero over the next decade.
“Let’s start now and do it over the next decade, over the next ten years, but I want to start now,” he said. “I don’t want to wait for the next Congress. I want to start now.”
Israel has received around $174 billion in US aid since the Second World War, making it the largest recipient of American foreign assistance over that period.
But support for giving Israel money has weakened among some American politicians, particularly since the war in Gaza began following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023.
In July, 103 Democrats backed an unsuccessful attempt to cut US military aid to Israel.
A poll in September also found that nearly half of American voters believed the US was too supportive of Israel.
For now, it remains unclear whether the funding will stop at the end of this year or how the decision will affect Israel’s existing agreement with Washington.