Trump says US to end $4 billion annual military aid to Israel this year
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reached an agreement under which Washington would stop providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year.
Trump said Israel no longer required the funding, which he put at USD 4 billion annually. He added that some Democrats and left-wing politicians had been citing the assistance while criticising Republicans.
In an interview with Fox News programme Fox and Friends, Trump said he and Netanyahu had agreed several months ago to end the annual payments to Israel.
Trump said the United States would stop providing the funds by the end of the year, but would assist Israel if the country needed help.
Israel plans to progressively reduce its reliance on US military assistance over the next decade, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in January. He had discussed the proposal during a December visit to US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The United States has been providing military assistance to Israel under a 10-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering the period from 2019 to 2028. Signed on September 14, 2016, during the Obama administration, the agreement commits the US to providing Israel with USD 38 billion in military assistance over the 10-year period
Netanyahu told The Economist that Israel had matured and built considerable capabilities, prompting him to seek a gradual reduction in military aid over the coming 10 years.
The existing package provides USD 3.3 billion a year in military financing, along with USD 500 million annually for joint missile defence programmes such as Iron Dome, Arrow and David's Sling.
The grants are largely meant to fund purchases of weapons and ammunition. The agreement also requires Israel to spend a progressively larger proportion of the assistance in the US.
Netanyahu's proposal would therefore reduce Israel's dependence on American military support after the current USD 38-billion arrangement, which remains in force until 2028.- Ends
