Washington: US President Donald Trump has said Washington will stop providing its annual aid to Israel after the end of this year, claiming he had reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the funding.
Trump said the US currently gives Israel USD 4 billion annually and that the two leaders had agreed months ago to discontinue the payments.
“We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it,” Trump told Fox News' Fox and Friends as voting began in the US midterm elections.
It was not immediately clear what form of aid Trump was referring to. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Asked why Washington was ending the payments, Trump said Israel did not need the money.
“Because they don’t need it. If they did need it, I would say ‘keep going,'” he said.
Military assistance to Israel and political campaign contributions from pro-Israel groups have emerged as contentious issues for both Democrats and Republicans in the US.
In July, the US House of Representatives rejected an amendment seeking to cut off aid to Israel, despite nearly half of the Democrats supporting it. The measure, moved by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie, was defeated by 314 votes to 104.
The debate comes amid growing criticism of Israel among some US political leaders over its war in Gaza, marking a shift from decades of broad bipartisan support for the country.
Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene criticised Trump's announcement on X, saying that a decision to end annual aid would not change the outcome of the midterm elections.