U.S. Aid to Israel: Trump Announces $4 Billion Funding Halt
The president claims a deal with Netanyahu will end annual transfers by year's end, despite a current agreement valid until 2028.
By Scott Marshall ·
U.S. taxpayers will stop sending $4 billion annually to Israel at the end of 2026, President Donald Trump said Tuesday. This announcement changes the financial relationship between the two nations just as Americans vote in midterm elections. The funds were previously guaranteed through a memorandum of understanding that does not expire until September 2028.
Trump stated on Fox News that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to stop the payments months ago. He described the move as a way to remove a negative argument used by left-wing Democrats. The president said Israel no longer needs the money and that Washington will still sell weapons to the country.
The timing of the declaration coincides with election day. Analysts suggest the announcement is a political strategy to influence voters. Trump noted that public support for Israel has declined, particularly among Democrats, following the war in Gaza. A Quinnipiac University poll in June found that 66 percent of Democrats believe the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 20 percent in 2017.
Trump specifically mentioned Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan. El-Sayed has opposed unconditional military aid to Israel. Trump argued that critics use the funding as a sign of unfairness. He said he did not want Republicans to suffer criticism from opponents like El-Sayed when Israel does not need the cash.
Israel's political leadership remains uncertain following an October 27 election. Netanyahu lost his governing majority but blocked a clear path for opponents to unseat him. Negotiations for a new government are expected to be long. Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the rival bloc, criticized the timing of the news. He wrote on X that learning about strategic changes through the media poses a danger and that Netanyahu must be replaced.
Neither the White House nor Netanyahu's office responded to requests for comment. Netanyahu previously told an Israeli television channel in October that American aid would wind down. He said the U.S. has changed and that Israel should prepare for reduced financial support. Congress passed a law in 2020 authorizing the aid, but it must pass appropriations bills annually to release the money.
Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies questioned the timing of the announcement. He noted that speculation about a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran was circulating. Natan Sachs of the Middle East Institute said Trump was trying to make the issue moot for critics. The House passed a provision in the 2027 National Defence Authorization Act to deepen military technology ties, a move dozens of NGOs called dangerous.
The two countries remain in conflict with Iran more than eight months after jointly attacking the Islamic Republic. Trump said the U.S. would help Israel if it needed assistance. The announcement marks a shift in a relationship that had long relied on bipartisan consensus for military support.
