Pulling the funding: Trump, Israel and US military assistance

In a telephone interview on Fox News on the morning of 3rd November, President Donald Trump revealed that a deal had been struck with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cease the annual provision of US$3.8 billion in military assistance after 2026.  “We already agreed that by the end of this year, we won’t be paying Israel,” he said.  “Now we’ll help Israel if they need it.”  This was a deal that had been reached “months ago”. The current funding arrangements arose out of a pledge from the Obama administration to supply military assistance to Israel over the period from 2019 to 2028 for a decade, amounting to US$38 billion.  Each year, Washington would supply $US3.3 billion in Foreign Military […]