US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that Washington would stop providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year. Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox and Friends, where he said Israel no longer needs the funding.
Trump said some Democrats and left-wing politicians had been using US funding for Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans. He said the $4 billion would be cut off at the end of the year.
Trump explains why the aid will end
When asked by host Brian Kilmeade why the funding would stop, Trump replied: ‘Because they don’t need it.’ He said he had asked Israel directly and that Netanyahu had raised the issue himself, saying it would be appropriate not to receive aid.
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Trump also said the two leaders had agreed months earlier to end the payments. He added that the United States would still help Israel if it needed assistance.
Future US support for Israel
Trump’s account of the agreement came from his own remarks, and the details of the arrangement were not described further in the interview. The statements mark a clear public shift in the long-running US funding commitment to Israel.
