President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will end its $3.8 billion in annual aid to Israel by the end of 2026. “Because they don’t need it,” the president said, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had come to him with the idea.
We’ll see if the administration follows through on its promise. Netanyahu, though, has been arguing that Israel should wean itself off U.S. aid for at least 30 years. Shortly after first becoming prime minister in 1996, he promised a joint session of Congress that he’d work to eliminate nonmilitary aid to attain economic independence. Since then, he’s championed military independence for the Jewish state as well.
Part of the reason is political. As we’ve seen, the Abdul el Sayeds of the world will detestably blame Israel and its Jewish American supporters for all the problems facing the U.S. In reality, even if we’re being generous, aid to Israel constituted somewhere in the vicinity of 0.1% of the federal budget, and 98% of that aid was spent in the U.S. on weaponry from American manufacturers.
Israel haters seem to be under the misimpression that the Jewish state would find itself without any planes or guns, its entire economy in tatters, without American financial assistance. Israel’s annual defense budget is approaching $50 billion. Aid comprised only a fraction of it. Israel’s defense sector exported an all-time high of $14.7 billion in 2025, most of it to European nations that are still effectively under the umbrella of American military protection.
The International Monetary Fund projects that Israel’s GDP will be nearly $800 billion next year. The country’s per capita GDP is higher than that of most Western European nations. This is an extraordinary feat considering Israel doesn’t have much in the way of natural resources and has, more or less, been under constant attack since its inception.
But supporters of Israel also have to come to terms with the fact that the relationship between the U.S. and the Jewish state is going to change. To what extent is still the question. There is little doubt that the Democratic Party, even in its most “moderate” iteration, will begin severing the relationship when it retakes power. It has become virtually impossible to function within contemporary left-wing political circles without condemning the bogeyman of Israel.
OF COURSE EL SAYED IS ON THE SIDE OF TERRORISTS
Endless propaganda has also fueled more anti-Israel attitudes on the right. It is likely that the Republican Party’s relationship with Israel will also change. But as Israeli politician Ron Dermer recently said, “We can deal with an anti-Israel President by appealing to American interests. What we can’t deal with is an anti-American President.” A strategically important, self-reliant, and capable ally in a critical region will be beneficial to the U.S.
Of course, we all know what Israel haters will whine about now. They don’t merely want to cut off aid to Israel. They want to cut off all sales of arms as well. They want to cut off cooperation with Israel on missile defense tech that unquestionably offers enormous benefits to the U.S. and its allies. The anger of the antisemite or the Israel “critic” will never be satiated. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a positive development.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
