The US will end an agreement that sees it provide Israel nearly $4 billion (€3.5 billion) in annual aid by the end of the year, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
In an interview with the conservative US broadcaster Fox, Trump said Israel was "fine" with him ending the assistance, which is due to run until the end of 2028.
"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 told the hosts of the "Fox & Friends" morning show, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump said Israel is "fine" with the US slashing the aid.
"We've already agreed that by the end of the year we won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel if they need it," the US president said, while adding that Israel can still buy US weapons "whenever they want."
"Israel's our number one; we give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it," Trump added.
How much does the US support Israel?
The US provides $3.8 billion to Israel under a 10-year security assistance accord that began in 2019 and was signed by Barack Obama before Trump took office in 2017.
In the Fox News interview, Trump did not elaborate on how the military assistance would end by the end of 2026. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that supplies Israel with nearly $4 billion in military aid each year is set to run until September 2028.
The US has backed Israel far more than any other country. Israel has received the inflation-adjusted equivalent of more than $300 billion in US economic and military support since it was founded in 1948, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Netanyahu has said previously that he wants to end Israel's reliance on US military support. In June, he said that while he "deeply" appreciates the support Israel has received from its "American friends … we need to break free from dependency and build our own independent armaments network."
Trump's announcement has drawn fierce criticism from Netanyahu's opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, who is vying to form a coalition that can challenge the prime minister.
The leader of the Israeli opposition said Trump's remarks were evidence that Netanyahu must be removed from office.
"The fact that Israel's defense establishment is learning of a shift in our strategic relationship through the media, at the same time as the Israeli public, shows just how dangerous Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct is," Eisenkot said in a statement posted on X.
"He can no longer be trusted and must be replaced."
Why did Trump make the remarks on midterm election day?
Trump's surprise comments came as US voters headed to polling stations on Tuesday for the midterm elections, which have been framed as a referendum on Trump's second term and could see his Republican Party lose control of Congress.
Democrats such as Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan have criticized continued US aid to Israel while Americans struggle to keep up with rising prices at home.
The US' unconditional support for Israel, which had been a rare and reliable source of bipartisan consensus for decades, has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public, particularly since Israel's military offensive in Gaza, which came in response to the Hamas terror attack in October 2023.
A Quinnipiac University poll in June found that 48% of all voters and 66% of Democrats think the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% and 20% in 2017, respectively. A poll by the Pew Research Center in March last year found that 53% of Americans view Israel unfavorably, up from 42% in 2022.
Trump said his move to end aid to Israel was in part meant to counter a "bad talking point" that left-wing Democrats such as El-Sayed have used against Republicans amid rising anti-Israel sentiment in the country over the conflict and humanitarian situation in Gaza.
"Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an El-Sayed when they (Israel) don't need it (the assistance)?" the US president said on Fox & Friends.
What did Trump say about the war in Iran?
In the same TV interview, Trump also confirmed that US forces attacked Iran overnight.
Trump said the US military hit an Iranian anti-aircraft facility in a "minor" attack.
"They built an anti-aircraft facility... As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely," Trump told the hosts of the "Fox & Friends" morning show.
The war with Iran, which the US has fought jointly with Israel, has seen US gasoline prices surge and Trump's approval ratings decline sharply as a result.
Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington told Reuters news agency that the timing of Trump's announcements on Israel and Iran was "curious."
"Why did President Trump announce it on Election Day? And why did he announce it amidst speculation that a major joint US-Israeli military strike against Iran may be days away?"