Photo by
TPS-IL on 13 October, 2025
Trump Announces Plan to End US Military Aid to Israel Next Year
By
Pesach Benson
• 3 November, 2026
Jerusalem, 3 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Israel should no longer receive billions of dollars in annual American military assistance because its economy is strong enough to stand on its own, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday, announcing that the funding would end in 2027.
Speaking by phone to Fox News, Trump said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had raised the prospect of ending the aid, and that the two leaders had discussed it for several years.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump (L), at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025. Photo by TPS-IL
“Israel is a thriving country, it doesn’t need this. If it did, we would continue,” Trump said. He added that Washington would maintain arms sales to Israel, its closest regional ally, even after the assistance program ends.
The existing agreement provides Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military financing through 2028. Signed in 2016 under then-President Barack Obama, the 10-year arrangement is the largest U.S. military aid commitment to any country.
Netanyahu has previously said Israel should gradually wean itself off American military assistance, proposing a transition over roughly 10 years rather than an abrupt cutoff.
Trump also framed the aid as an unnecessary expense for American taxpayers and a growing political liability for Democrats, pointing to its use as a campaign issue by candidates such as Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. The announcement came as Americans went to the polls to vote in midterm elections.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment.
Israeli officials have been working to phase out a longstanding U.S. foreign aid model for a new framework based on joint investments, innovation and equal partnership.
