{"id":116411,"date":"2026-05-16T09:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/116411\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T09:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T09:25:08","slug":"gop-warms-to-netanyahu-plan-to-end-us-military-aid-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/116411\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP warms to Netanyahu plan to end US military aid to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top Republicans are warming to an idea by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> that even a year ago would have been considered an unthinkable shift in U.S. foreign policy: ending all American military aid to Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s plan, to wind down the $3.8 billion Israel gets each year in military support, has shocked the ranks of congressional Republicans who for decades have considered that funding sacrosanct and been critical of Democrats\u2019 growing interest in placing conditions on it.<\/p>\n

But the request is increasingly losing its taboo, and even stalwart supporters of Israel are beginning to praise the policy shift as a sign Israel is coming of age and no longer needs the special treatment it gets as an American ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it represents a show of resolve by Israel to be the master of their own destinies, and I think it\u2019ll be well-received,\u201d said Sen. Roger Wicker<\/a> (R-MS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. \u201cIt\u2019ll be well-received by Congress, by the administration, by the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/a> (R-SD) said the phase-out should at least be entertained and that Israel knows best what\u2019s in its national security interests.<\/p>\n

The change would not end the sale of weapons to Israel, such as the F-35s and missile defense systems that give it a military edge over regional adversaries. Instead, it would effectively alter who pays for that equipment, shifting the burden from the United States to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s how the Israeli leader feels about it \u2014 like they\u2019re able to deal with their national security threats with their own resources, then I guess, I would listen to what he has to say,\u201d Thune said of Netanyahu\u2019s proposal. \u201cI think he knows better than anybody about the challenges they face and the importance of the alliance with the U.S. and the resources that have come with that through the years.\u201d <\/p>\n

With the call, Netanyahu is effectively getting ahead of a turn in public sentiment against Israel that has left the fate of that aid in doubt.<\/p>\n

As recently as 2024, Congress<\/a> was infusing Israel with an additional $15 billion in military aid to carry out its war with Hamas. But Democrats have grown increasingly unwilling to finance new arms sales due to Netanyahu\u2019s perceived disregard for U.S. calls for military restraint and its casualty-heavy operation in Gaza.<\/p>\n

On the Right, Israel is being squeezed by a smaller faction of the Make America Great Again movement that wants to pare back all American foreign aid.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s decision to preempt that debate was initially met with GOP skepticism. In December 2025, Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/a> (R-SC), the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the aid, called phasing it out a \u201cbig mistake<\/a>\u201d that would weaken Israel\u2019s alliance with the U.S.<\/p>\n

But Graham did a U-turn a few weeks later, praising Israel\u2019s desire to be \u201cself-sufficient\u201d and announcing that he would personally ask the Trump administration to \u201cdramatically expedite<\/a>\u201d a 10-year wind-down.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has generally cited Israel\u2019s growing economy to justify why now is the right time to wean off foreign assistance<\/a>. For the U.S., Graham described it as an opportunity to \u201cplow\u201d the money back into the U.S. military, and Wicker, too, appears to want to repurpose those dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent there are federal funds that can be used elsewhere, that would be helpful,\u201d said Wicker, who has previously called for a dramatic ramp-up in defense spending.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s remarks come as the U.S. prepares to renew an Obama-era memorandum of understanding that cemented the current tranche of aid, $500 million of which is paid each year to the Pentagon, not Israel directly, in support of missile defenses such as the Iron Dome.<\/p>\n

That funding runs through fiscal 2028, meaning the Trump administration<\/a> has two more years to negotiate the terms of a new arrangement. But Netanyahu has begun ratcheting up the timeline for Israel to taper off aid and told CBS recently that he hopes to start \u201cright now<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s start now and do it over the next decade, over the next 10 years, but I want to start now,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to wait for the next Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House sidestepped the question of where President Donald Trump stands on continuing aid, but he was reportedly<\/a> taken aback when Netanyahu broached the topic at Mar-a-Lago last December.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States has a tremendous ally in Israel, whose military helped our Department of War achieve all of the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,\u201d White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement, referring to the war in Iran<\/a>. \u201cWe do not detail President Trump\u2019s private conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

By and large, Republicans were also reluctant to weigh in on Netanyahu\u2019s proposal, and several downplayed the impact in interviews with the Washington Examiner. Sen. Mike Rounds <\/a>(R-SD), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned how quickly that aid would actually phase out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seems contrary to the memorandum of understanding that we have with Israel,\u201d added Sen. Susan Collins<\/a> (R-ME), the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. \u201cIt\u2019s been a vital partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), another appropriator, said his default position is to continue funding aid for Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a very, very strong supporter of Israel, and I\u2019m going to continue to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Democrats, for their part, were most receptive to the shift. Sen. Richard Blumenthal<\/a> (D-CT), a defense hawk and one of the few remaining Democrats still opposing efforts to block weapons sales to Israel, said the U.S. should not \u201cobject\u201d if Netanyahu wants to phase out American military aid.<\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Coons <\/a>(D-DE), a longtime supporter of Israel, called Netanyahu\u2019s comments an \u201cencouraging sign,\u201d though he declined to stake out a clear position and questioned whether the Israeli government widely shares Netanyahu\u2019s view.<\/p>\n

The notable exception among Democrats was Sen. John Fetterman<\/a> (D-PA), a centrist who echoed Graham\u2019s prior warning that ending the aid would be a mistake and blamed his party for Netanyahu\u2019s change in posture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, you can\u2019t force it on him, but it\u2019s, because it\u2019s become so hostile that I think he realized that inevitably, the Democrat Party is going to vote to try to cut it anyway,\u201d Fetterman said.<\/p>\n

DOJ SEEKS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY WORKERS<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Tim Kaine<\/a> (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said a drawdown in aid would reflect a \u201cmaturing of the relationship,\u201d given that American allies of comparable size do not receive the same aid as Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is, are we an ally or are we a guarantor?\u201d Kaine said. \u201cAnd we would be more like an ally rather than a guarantor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Datoc contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top Republicans are warming to an idea by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that even a year ago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[41,467,38,16210,37,1914,32398,2594],"class_list":{"0":"post-116411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-congress","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-foreign-aid","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-lindsey-graham","14":"tag-roger-wicker","15":"tag-washington-d-c"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116583538503131062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}