Israel will gradually end its dependence on US military aid, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The statement came after US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would stop providing Israel with around $4 billion annually in 2027.
The Israeli prime minister’s office described the change as a transition “from aid to partnership” and stressed that the country’s economy is strong enough to assume a larger share of defense spending. The statement said that Netanyahu had made a similar commitment as early as 1996, when he declared that Israel would gradually end US economic assistance, which at the time amounted to $1.2 billion.
“I want to gradually reduce American financial aid to zero,” Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS in May. Israeli officials later clarified that the prime minister had been discussing a process that would unfold over roughly ten years, rather than an abrupt termination of aid.
Discrepancy in the timelines
According to Ynet, US military aid will be halved and gradually phased out over a period of five years. The exact timetable, however, was not specified in the prime minister’s office’s public statement. This creates a discrepancy between Trump’s announcement that aid would end in 2027 and the phased approach presented by the Israeli side.
Under the current memorandum, Israel receives $3.8 billion annually. Of that amount, $3.3 billion comes through the Foreign Military Financing program, intended primarily for the purchase of US weapons and military equipment. Another $500 million is allocated to the joint development and production of missile defense systems, including “Iron Dome,” “David’s Sling” and “Arrow.”
New agreement under discussion
The current memorandum expires in 2028, and US and Israeli officials are already negotiating a new framework for the relationship. According to Ynet, the future agreement could provide for less direct funding for Israeli purchases of US weapons, but greater support for joint missile defense programs.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the change as an idea proposed by Israel itself. Netanyahu’s office presented it as a joint initiative with Trump aimed at changing the financial model without interrupting the strategic cooperation between the two countries. According to the Associated Press, the US Congress will play an important role in any possible restructuring of the aid, while the current agreement does not expire before 2028.
Sources: timesofisrael.com, ynetnews.com, apnews.com