Trump says US will stop $4bn funding to Israel at end of 2026
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop providing $4 billion in annual funding to Israel after the end of this year.
Speaking to Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Trump said Israel no longer needed the funding and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using US financial support for Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans.
“Now, 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,” 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,” he added.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office on Trump’s remarks.
It was not immediately clear which specific funding Trump was referring to. A memorandum of understanding providing $3.8 billion in annual US military aid to Israel is due to expire in 2028, and discussions have been ongoing on how Washington’s assistance to Israel would evolve beyond that date.
“They can buy whatever they want. They can buy whatever they want. So can Europe. We make the greatest weapons in the world,” Trump added.
Netanyahu said in a May interview with CBS that he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade. In a June letter to a US congressman, he wrote that the time had come for Israel “to move from aid recipient to partner”.
US public support for Israel has declined since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats. A June Quinnipiac University poll found that 48 per cent of voters and 66 per cent of Democrats believed the United States was too supportive of Israel, up from 16 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, when the question was first asked in 2017.
Support for Israel among Democratic voters has fallen sharply, with candidates critical of Israel winning Democratic primaries and even moderate lawmakers increasingly willing to challenge decades of US support for the country.
“The left uses the $4 billion payment that everybody knows about, well it’s no secret, as a signal of unfairness, and we can’t allow that to happen,” Trump said.
“We were giving them $4 billion, we are, but it gets cut off at the end of the year. Why? Because they don’t need it,” he added.
Credit: Reuters
