Trump says US will end annual aid payments to Israel at end of 2026

US President Donald Trump said on November 3 that Washington would end annual aid payments to Israel at the close of 2026, according to Reuters and the BBC. He announced the plan during a Fox News interview on the morning of the US midterm elections.

Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed months earlier to stop the payments, which he put at $4 billion a year. He also said Netanyahu had proposed moving away from US aid.

The announcement sets out an intended cutoff, rather than a funding halt already carried out. The BBC and France 24 reported that it was unclear precisely which funds Trump meant to end.

An existing US-Israeli memorandum of understanding provides military assistance worth $3.8 billion annually through 2028. The National reported that the agreement was signed in 2016 and pledged a total of $38 billion for fiscal years 2019–2028.

Reuters reported that Trump gave no explanation of how he would stop the funding before that agreement expires. Congress authorized the assistance through legislation in 2020, but distributing and releasing the money still requires annual appropriations, the agency reported.

Trump's timetable is also shorter than the reduction Netanyahu had previously advocated. The BBC and France 24 reported that the Israeli prime minister had discussed phasing out US military support over a decade, rather than ending it this year.

Netanyahu's office had not commented when Reuters, the BBC and France 24 published their reports. The White House also had not answered Reuters' request for comment.

Trump said Israel no longer needed the payments. He linked his decision to criticism of aid by Democrats and left-wing politicians, singling out Abdul El-Sayed, a Senate candidate in Michigan.

He said Israel would still be able to purchase American weapons and that the United States would provide help if Israel needed it.

Israeli opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot criticized Netanyahu over the announcement and called for his replacement, Reuters reported.