Israeli Opposition Says Ending US Aid Means 'Heavy Damage' to Security After Trump's $4B Cut-Off Pledge

Yair Golan, who leads Israel's opposition Democrats, says ending US aid would do 'heavy damage to Israel's security'. He blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 3 November, that the aid 'gets cut off at the end of the year'. Trump put it at $4 billion (about £3 billion) a year.

Trump said the prime minister brought the idea up himself, and other opposition leaders turned on him. The money is military aid, and a 2016 deal set it at $3.8 billion (about £2.8 billion) a year until 2028. A finance official in Israel told local media the timing caught staff off guard. The prime minister has not commented.

What Trump Told Fox News

Trump made the pledge by phone on Fox & Friends on US midterm election morning. He said Israel did not need the money any more and could still buy American arms, as European countries do. Asked whether he meant cash or military hardware, he said it could count as either. Trump gave no detail on how the aid would stop. Pressed by host Brian Kilmeade, he said Israeli officials had told him as much.

Trump linked the timing to politics at home, saying the aid handed Democrats such as Abdul El-Sayed an attack line. El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, opposes military aid to Israel with no strings attached. In June, 48% of US voters told Quinnipiac pollsters that America backed Israel too much, against 16% in 2017. Netanyahu himself told Israeli television in October that large US aid would not last 'because America has changed'.

How the Aid Deal Works

President Barack Obama's government signed the current deal, which sets out $38 billion (about £28 billion) over 10 years, or $3.8 billion a year until September 2028. Congress still approves the money each year, and in July the House voted down a bid to cut it off. Talks on what replaces the deal after 2028 had already begun between the two governments. The graphic below shows the years left.

'President Trump will probably not cut off US military aid to Israel by the end of 2026,' said Thomas Warrick of the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 'the curious issue is timing'. He also asked why Trump spoke amid talk of a joint strike on Iran. The two allies' conflict with Iran is now in its ninth month.

How Israel's Opposition Reacted

Golan, a former deputy army chief, said a responsible leader would have fought for more American aid, not less. Israel must now restock its weapons and rebuild air defences worn down by a long war, he argued. His party hopes to join a government after the 27 October vote, in which Netanyahu lost his majority.

Gadi Eisenkot leads the bloc trying to oust Netanyahu. He said security chiefs learned of the change from the media. 'We can no longer rely on him and must replace him,' he wrote on X. Avigdor Liberman of the Yisrael Beytenu party put 'the price of Trump's support for Netanyahu' at $3.8 billion a year.