Officials at Israel’s Finance Ministry were the first to comment on the White House’s decision to cut off military assistance to Israel, saying they had been caught off guard by US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the aid would end by the close of the year, The Times of Israel reports.
“No official document has been sent by the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the termination of the aid,” an official from the Ministry of Finance told the news outlet Walla. “The ministry was aware of the intention to end it, but was surprised by the plan to do so immediately.”
In a January interview with The Economist, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wanted Israel to become independent of US military aid within the next 10 years.
What Donald Trump Said About Aid to Israel
But Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, in a shock move on the day of the US congressional elections, that he would end the $4 billion in annual aid to Israel. The agreement was due to expire in 2028, and the two countries were already in talks to extend it.
Trump has now said, however, that Israel no longer needs this aid and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using U.S. funding for Israel as a talking point to criticize Republicans.
“We were giving them four billion dollars, and we still are, but that support will be cut off at the end of the year,” Trump told Fox News in an interview on election morning, Washington time.
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