US Will Stop $4 Billion Israel Funding, Says Trump

Washington (GNP): US President Donald Trump has said Washington will stop $4 billion in yearly funding to Israel after the end of this year. He made the remarks on Tuesday in a television interview, and said the arrangement was agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump said the two leaders reached the deal months ago and that Israel will no longer be paid by the end of the year. He added that Washington would still help Israel if it needs support. There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

The president’s reasoning had two parts. He argued that Israel no longer needs the money and can buy whatever it wants, as Europe can, since the US makes the world’s best weapons. He also said some Democrats and left-wing politicians use the payment as a talking point to criticise Republicans.

It is not clear which funding Trump meant. A memorandum of understanding already provides $3.8 billion a year in US military aid to Israel, and it runs until 2028. Talks have been under way on how American assistance would change once that agreement ends.

Netanyahu has signalled a similar direction. In a May interview, he said he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade. A month later, in a letter to a US congressman, he wrote that it was time for Israel to move from aid recipient to partner.

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The politics at home help explain why the issue has become so sensitive. American public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats. A June poll by Quinnipiac University found that 48 per cent of voters and 66 per cent of Democrats think the US is too supportive of Israel. When the question was first asked in 2017, those figures were 16 per cent and 20 per cent.

That shift is already showing up in party politics. Candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries, and even moderate lawmakers are more willing to challenge decades of US support. Trump’s comments came as Americans voted in the midterm elections, which suggests the funding was on his mind as a campaign issue.

Donald Trump said, “The payment ends this year because Israel simply does not need it any