Washington (AFP): US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday (Nov 3) that Washington would end its annual US$3.8bil in aid to Israel, on the day of midterm elections in which support for Israel has been a contentious issue.
"We give Israel US$4bil a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping," Trump said during a phone interview with Fox News.
Trump said Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "fine" with the decision to end the aid.
Under the deal, Israel receives financial assistance for the purchase of around US$3.8bil in weapons a year.
"Now we'll help Israel if they need it," Trump said. "Israel is a very thriving country. They don't need it."
The announcement came as Americans voted in crucial midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the last two years of Trump's presidency, and soon after parliamentary elections in Israel that did not produce a clear winner.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has received more than US$300bil, adjusted for inflation, in US economic and military assistance, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, far more than any other country in that time period.
Netanyahu has in the past expressed a desire to end Israel's dependence on US aid. In May, he told US broadcaster CBS that he wanted to reduce US support to zero.
Tuesday's announcement was met with backlash from Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, who said it showed that Netanyahu must go.
"The fact that Israel's defence 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. "He can no longer be trusted and must be replaced."
It was not immediately clear when the US aid to Israel would actually end. The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has created deep divisions within the United States, with polls showing a growing number of Americans in favour of cutting aid to Israel.
The announcement also comes amid an eight-month war against Iran, with Trump confirming on Tuesday that the American military had carried out new strikes there. – AFP
