Trump says US will stop providing aid to Israel after year-end
President Trump says the United States will end about four billion dollars a year in aid to Israel after this year, under a deal he says he struck with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
President Donald Trump has said the United States will stop providing about four billion dollars a year in aid to Israel after the end of this year. Speaking on Fox News on the morning of the US midterm elections, he said the agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been reached months ago, adding that Washington would still help Israel if it ever needed it.
Trump said Israel no longer needs the money because it is now a thriving country, and argued that the annual payment had become a political talking point used against Republicans. He described the arrangement bluntly, saying the two leaders had agreed months ago that the payments would stop.
It remains unclear exactly which funds the announcement covers. The current ten-year agreement provides about three point eight billion dollars a year in military assistance to Israel and runs until twenty twenty-eight, so ending payments this year would cut that arrangement short. The White House has been asked to clarify the details.
Netanyahu's office has not yet commented on the announcement. Netanyahu has previously said he hoped to reduce Israel's reliance on American military support over the coming decade, but no formal response to this specific plan has been given so far.
Reporting based on coverage from BBC News.