PM says Israel won’t seek full renewal of 10-year military aid package from US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveals that he’s not seeking the full renewal of a 10-year US military assistance memorandum of understanding that expires in 2028.

Netanyahu says in an interview with The Economist that Israel could give up the subsidies it receives from the US to purchase American arms.

Netanyahu again predicts the expansion of the Abraham Accords, which have stalled amid Israel’s refusal to offer a political horizon for the Palestinians.

The premier claims that Arab leaders don’t actually care about the issue.

“In private conversations, you want the truth? I mean beyond the regular things? Many of them don’t give a hoot… They don’t care about the Palestinian issue. They care about its effect on the street,” he says.

Netanyahu avoids overly commenting on the Iranian protests, saying, “It may be a moment where the people of Iran take charge of their own destiny… Revolutions are best done from within.”

He avoids committing to another Israeli strike in Iran, but says, “I’ll tell you one definite time when we would resume our military activities… If Iran attacks us, which they might, then there will be horrible consequences for Iran. That’s definite. Everything else, I think we should see what is happening inside Iran.”

While Netanyahu says he is ready to appear before a commission of inquiry, which has not yet been set up, he avoids using the word “responsibility” when asked about Hamas’s October 7 attack and is quick to spread the blame among Israel’s security agencies and the rest of his cabinet, The Economist says.