Netanyahu's first comment on Trump's announcement to end military aid to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued its first statement regarding US President Donald Trump's announcement earlier this week of his intention to end military aid to Israel. However, the statement did not substantively address what would represent a major shift in US-Israeli relations.

In a statement published on the “X” platform, previously Twitter, Netanyahu’s office stated that the aid provided to Israel “has always enjoyed the support of both parties” (Democrat and Republican), noting that Israel used it “to defend itself and confront the enemies who threaten America and the West.”

The statement added that Netanyahu and Trump are working to shift the nature of the relationship from providing “military aid” to establishing a “partnership” between the two countries. These discussions began in May, but it is not yet clear whether a new framework agreement is being drafted to replace the current memorandum of understanding, which provides for $3.8 billion in aid to Israel annually until 2028.

Netanyahu also did not address Trump's assertion that the two sides had reached an agreement to end military aid by the end of the year, and he did not clarify whether he had received any prior notification about Trump's announcement, which came during a phone interview he conducted with Fox News on the morning of the US election.

The post on the “X” platform included a video clip from an interview conducted by the “Fox News” network with Netanyahu’s spokesman, Doron Spelman, who said that the aid was “extremely important” to Israel, adding: “We are very grateful to the American people.”

For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on Thursday, described the announcement as “a bolt from the sky.”

Herzog said: “The issue of American aid worries me greatly, and this announcement fell on me like a bolt from the sky. We have a memorandum of understanding with the United States that is supposed to last until 2028, and this is one of the main goals, so we must form a government and avoid going to repeated elections.”