President Trump said Tuesday that the roughly $4 billion in annual U.S. aid to Israel will be cut off at the end of this year under an understanding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Mr. Trump said he and Mr. Netanyahu “made a deal months ago that we’re stopping” the annual U.S. aid.
The president framed the move partly as a way to remove a talking point from Democratic candidates, such as Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who made opposition to U.S. support for Israel a central tenet of his campaign.
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Mr. Trump said Israel “doesn’t need it. … I asked them. They don’t need it. And because why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed, when they don’t need it? It’s a bad talking point.
“The Left uses the $4 billion payment that everybody knows about when it’s no secret as a signal of unfairness. And we can’t allow that to happen. … It’s almost too easy a target,” Mr. Trump said.
“He said, ‘I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid,’ because he understands that this is one of their points of contention,” Mr. Trump said.
The $3.8 billion per year the U.S. contributes to Israeli defense accounts for as much as 18% of Israel’s total military spending, according to estimates from the Congressional Research Service and USAFacts.
The surprise Trump announcement sparked a new round of criticism of Mr. Netanyahu in Israel.
Former Israel Defense Forces chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is looking to replace Mr. Netanyahu as prime minister, said the country’s “special relationship” with the U.S. is a key component for its national security.
“The fact that the security establishment, along with Israeli citizens, is learning about a change in the strategic relationship through the media highlights just how much Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct poses a genuine danger,” he said Tuesday on social media. “We can no longer rely on him and must replace him.”
He demanded that Mr. Netanyahu explain the development.
“Once again, Israel’s prime minister is unable to look Israeli citizens in the eye and tell the truth,” Mr. Eisenkot said.
“A responsible prime minister would have fought to increase American aid, not dismantle it,” said Yair Golan, the leader of The Democrats, an opposition party.
The decade-long military deal between the U.S. and Israel was set to deliver about $4 billion in aid annually through 2028.
Asked whether his administration would cut off $4 billion worth of military hardware or cash, Mr. Trump said, “You can consider it barter. You could consider it military aid or cash.”
The existing U.S.-Israel military assistance agreement committed Washington to providing $38 billion in military aid over 10 years ending in 2028.
Most of the funds from the 2016 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Israel were to be spent on American military equipment and defense services, in accordance with standard foreign military financing rules.
The agreement “is not a blank check,” the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel said earlier this year. “It is a structured framework that embeds the U.S. in Israeli defense planning, procurement and coordination.”
Replacing aid with commercial sales, the group said, “means the U.S. still sells weapons but with far less influence over how Israel uses them.”
The group argued that treating Israel like just another customer ignores critical distinctions among countries. No other U.S. ally faces a nuclear-aspirant adversary committed to its destruction and a coordinated regional proxy network, the group said.
“Israel is the only major U.S. security partner with no American troops on its soil. Germany, Japan and South Korea host tens of thousands of U.S. service members at a cost of billions annually,” the Democratic Majority for Israel said. “The U.S. investment in Israel’s defenses is a fraction of what we spend elsewhere.”
Congress has appropriated aid to Israel largely in accordance with the memorandum of understanding, which is not legally binding and does not require Senate ratification to change annual levels or add supplemental funding.
In June, the U.S. and Israel announced formal talks on a successor to the memorandum of understanding, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the new deal would be based on trade and would “end aid.”
Israeli military leaders and officials in the country’s defense ministry were reportedly surprised by Mr. Trump’s statement to the “Fox & Friends” hosts.
“There is an ongoing dialogue with the Americans, and we can say that we were surprised,” a senior Israeli defense official said, according to The Times of Israel. “We will study the implications of the decision, which has yet to reach professional officials.”
Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since 1948, in large part because of widespread American support for the creation of a Jewish state after World War II and shared strategic goals in the Middle East.
The U.S. has given the country about $174 billion in assistance and missile defense funding.
Aid has also been connected to Israel’s “qualitative military edge,” which Congress codified in 2008. The law mandates that any weapons sale to another Middle East country be assessed for its impact on Israel.
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