Trump's pledge to cut off Israel's $4bn annual aid by year's end sparks an Israeli opposition call for Netanyahu to go
President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump announced he would end $4bn a year in aid to Israel, saying Netanyahu had previously expressed a wish to phase out US military aid to zero over the next decade.
Trump announced on Election Day morning that the US would stop its annual $3.8bn military aid package to Israel by year's end, saying the deal was struck "months ago" with Netanyahu and that Israel "no longer needs it." He framed the announcement explicitly as a political move to strip Democrats of a "bad talking point" on US-Israel ties, singling out Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Netanyahu reportedly raised the idea first, though his office gave no immediate response to Trump's public announcement.
Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot called the news proof Netanyahu must go, saying Israel's defence establishment had learned of a strategic shift "through the media at the same time as the Israeli public."
Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said the timing revealed "how bad the polling is" on the Israel issue, not any genuine policy change.
