US To Stop $4 Billion Annual Military Aid To Israel, Donald Trump Says Netanyahu Agreed

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that his administration would end nearly $4 billion in annual military assistance to Israel, saying he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to stop the aid by the end of the year.

The announcement, made during an interview on Fox & Friends on Election Day, could trigger a standoff with Congress over the future of the assistance. "They're fine with it because they've become a very successful country," Trump said.

"They don't need it. And we won't be paying anymore...we won't be paying Israel. We'll help Israel if they need it. They've been a great ally." Trump said the agreement had been reached with Netanyahu "months ago". The announcement could signal a significant shift in the US-Israel relationship, which has long been supported by billions of dollars in American military assistance, Politico reported.

Under a 10-year agreement signed during the Obama administration, the US committed to providing Israel with $38 billion in military aid between 2019 and 2028. Trump's proposed timeline has raised questions about how the administration intends to halt the assistance before the agreement expires and whether congressional approval would be required.

More than 90 per cent of the funding goes to American defence companies, meaning the money largely remains in the US. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli Embassy could not be reached for comment.

During Tuesday's interview, Trump described the annual assistance to Israel as a "bad talking point" for Democrats, including Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. "The left uses the $4 billion payment ... as a signal of unfairness.

And we can't allow that to happen. I don't like that. ... It's almost too easy to target," he said. Former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had unsuccessfully pushed to cut military assistance to Israel while in Congress, suggested that the announcement was linked to the Republicans' political difficulties ahead of the midterm elections.

"Amazing how being on the verge of Republicans getting wiped out in the midterms changes hearts and minds," Greene wrote on social media. "Trump getting permission from Netanyahu to end annual aid to Israel isn't going to change today's election results.

But it does show you how bad the polling is on that issue," she added. The announcement comes a week after Israel's parliamentary elections left Netanyahu fighting to retain power. His Likud party emerged with the largest number of seats, but his right-wing coalition fell short of the 61 seats required for a majority, setting the stage for difficult negotiations to form a new government.

Israel's standing in the US has weakened over the past three years amid public outrage over its actions during the Gaza war. An increasing number of Democrats have backed conditioning or ending American military aid to Israel.

Meanwhile, some Republicans seeking to reduce US military involvement abroad have also come to view Israel as an obstacle to that goal.