Trump Says U.S. Will Stop Israel Aid at Year’s End, Scope Unclear

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will stop paying Israel about $4 billion a year in aid by the end of 2026, a claim that came as voters went to the polls in the midterm elections and that left unclear exactly which funding he meant, according to NBC News and Al Jazeera.

Trump told “Fox & Friends” that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed months ago to stop the payments, and said the idea came from Netanyahu, who he claimed told him it would be appropriate for Israel not to receive aid. Trump added that the United States would “help Israel if they need it.” NBC reported that Netanyahu’s office declined to comment, and Al Jazeera said Israeli officials, including the foreign minister, had not confirmed the move. Al Jazeera said the State Department did not respond to its request for comment.

Trump also tied the move to politics. NBC reported he said the left treats the payments as a sign of unfairness and called Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a critic of U.S. support for Israel, a “lunatic.” Al Jazeera reported that Trump called the criticism a “bad talking point.”

The figure does not match the best-known framework. NBC noted that a 2016 memorandum of understanding provides $3.8 billion a year, of which $3.3 billion is military financing grants and $500 million is for joint missile defense, and that it expires in 2028. NBC said Netanyahu had floated tapering U.S. aid over a decade in January.

Experts questioned how quickly any change could happen. Al Jazeera’s White House correspondent, Kimberly Halkett, noted that Congress appropriates the money, so the president cannot end the aid alone. Thomas Warrick of the Atlantic Council told Al Jazeera that aid will probably not end by the end of this year and is more likely to be phased out during 2027, because missile defense and counter-drone programs cannot easily shift to foreign military sales.

Congress has recently shown strong support for the relationship. Al Jazeera reported that in July the House defeated, 314 to 104, an amendment by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to cut off aid to Israel, with nearly half of Democrats voting for it. Al Jazeera cited a June Quinnipiac survey in which just under half of voters (48 percent) and two-thirds of Democrats (66 percent) called U.S. backing for Israel excessive; the 2017 shares were 16 percent and 20 percent.

In Israel, opposition figures reacted sharply, NBC reported. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who now leads the Yashar party, said Netanyahu “can no longer be trusted” and must be replaced. Yair Golan, who leads the Democrats party, said ending the aid would severely harm Israel’s security and called it another failure by Netanyahu.

Supporters of reducing foreign aid have long argued that wealthy allies should rely less on American taxpayers, while backers say the aid supports a key ally and that nearly all of it must be spent on American purchases, NBC noted.

Oil prices moved on the same day. Brent crude fell 3 percent to about $101 a barrel on Tuesday, then recovered to about $103, NBC reported; it linked the earlier drop to Trump’s Monday comment ruling out an Iran strike after the midterms, not to the aid comments.

No formal announcement or document describing the arrangement has been published, and the details remain unconfirmed.