Trump says US will stop about $4 billion in funding to Israel after 2026, under a deal with Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump says the United States will stop about $4 billion a year in funding to Israel after the end of 2026, under what he called a deal made "months ago" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported via Dawn. He made the remarks on Fox News's Fox and Friends on Tuesday, as Americans voted in the midterm elections.

What Trump said

• Israel no longer needs the money, he said, adding: "Now we'll help Israel if they need it."
• He said some Democrats and politicians on the left use the aid to attack Republicans, calling it "a signal of unfairness".
• He said the arrangement with Netanyahu was agreed months ago.

Netanyahu's office had no immediate comment, according to Reuters.

What aid Israel gets now

It is not clear which funding Trump was referring to. The main channel is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that gives Israel $3.8 billion a year in US military aid, signed for ten years and due to expire in 2028. Talks on what comes after 2028 are already under way. If the $3.8 billion were to end two years early, that would be a change to a signed agreement, and Trump did not say how it would be done.

At today's dollar rate of about Rs 276.7, $3.8 billion is roughly Rs 1.05 trillion a year; you can run other amounts through our currency converter.

Netanyahu has talked about this before

• In May, Netanyahu told CBS he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade.
• In a June letter to a US congressman, he wrote that it was time for Israel to "move from aid recipient to partner".

Why it is a political issue in the US

Support for Israel has fallen among American voters. A Quinnipiac poll in June found 48% of voters, and 66% of Democrats, said the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% and 20% in 2017, Reuters reported.

What to watch

• Whether the White House or Israeli government names the funding and the date in writing.
• Whether Congress, which approves aid, goes along. The midterm results now coming in decide who controls it from January 2027.

The announcement comes days after an Israeli election in which Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, short of a majority, and alongside the continuing US conflict with Iran.