Contradicting Trump, Netanyahu’s office says Israel will ‘gradually’ move off US military aid

In his second statement on the issue since US President Donald Trump said that American military aid to Israel would end this year, caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday said Jerusalem will “phase out” assistance from Washington.

“In 1996, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would gradually phase out American economic assistance, which stood at $1.2 billion,” said his office. “He followed through on that commitment.”

“Thirty years later, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel’s economy is strong enough to gradually phase out American military assistance as well,” the premier’s office continued.

It framed the shift away from aid as a joint move by the two leaders. However, while Netanyahu has spoken publicly and repeatedly about ending US military assistance to Israel, he has talked about doing so gradually over the next decade — not at the end of the year as Trump has declared.

“Today, Israel has a strong and stable economy, and Israel and the United States are taking a significant step toward transitioning from assistance to partnership,” said the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Netanyahu outlined this direction as early as May,” it added, “in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, when he said: “I want to gradually reduce American financial aid to zero.”

The Prime Minister’s Office noted that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that moving off of aid was “a step that the Israelis themselves proposed to us.”

“The joint initiative by Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Trump demonstrates the strength of the alliance between the two countries and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances,” said the premier’s office.

Netanyahu’s statement came after Rubio stressed earlier this week that Trump wants believes Israel is “rich enough” to buy American weapons without relying on military aid, which it “absolutely” can get off by the end of the year if it wants to, though the 10-year memorandum of understanding on US military assistance to Israel — which gives the Jewish state $3.8 billion annually — expires at the end of September 2028.

Trump said on November 3 that the United States would cease providing $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of this year, in comments that reportedly caught Israeli security and financial officials off guard.

Trump tried to qualify the announcement by stressing that Israel has been a good ally and even backs the policy, but his decision to issue it on the morning of the Congressional midterm elections highlighted how toxic the issue of aid to Israel has become among both parties in the US.

“As far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal — we give Israel $4 billion a year — we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump told Fox News in a phone interview.

“They’re fine with it because they’ve become a very successful country. They don’t need it. And we won’t be paying anymore, Israel,” he continued.

“So it’s just a wasted thing, since we’ve already agreed that by the end of this year, we won’t be paying Israel,” Trump said. “We’ll help Israel if they need it. They’ve been a great ally, and we’ve been the greatest of all allies.”

In a first response, three days later, Netanyahu’s office did not offer a denial. “US military aid to Israel has always been a cross-the-aisle agreement. Israel has used it both to defend itself and to confront enemies who threaten America and the West,” the PMO said in a statement on November 6.

“Today, Israel has a strong and stable economy. The move by PM Netanyahu and President Trump from aid to partnership shows the strength and sophistication of our relationship, and its ability to adapt and stand strong over time,” it added.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.