US President Donald Trump's announcement that the annual security assistance of approximately $4 billion to Israel will be stopped by the end of the year caused concern in the Israeli administration and security and economic circles.
The Washington administration's statement to end the military and financial support it has been providing for many years has increased concerns that the Israeli Treasury, which is struggling with a budget deficit, may face an additional financial burden of billions of dollars.
In his statement to the "Fox News" channel on November 3, Trump announced that financial aid would be cut in line with the agreement he had previously reached with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We will no longer give money to Israel." Trump said, stating that Israel, a developed country, does not need the financing in question. Trump stated that in case of a vital crisis, US support could be re-evaluated.
Netanyahu also drew attention to the change in US politics and said, "Get used to it, this aid will not continue anymore. The problem is not Israel, but the fact that America has changed. This process is over and will end; now it is only a matter of time." He had previously stated that the end of aid was inevitable.
It was stated that the Israeli Ministry of Finance was not aware of the decision.
According to reports in the Israeli press, the Ministry of Finance was not informed in advance of Trump's decision to suspend aid, and the statement was met with surprise in the ministry.
It was stated that if the aid is cut off, the Israeli Ministry of Defense will lose resources of approximately 12 billion shekels ($4 billion) annually.
While it was stated that the resulting financing gap may have to be covered by public resources, it was claimed in security and economic circles that Trump's main goal is to completely terminate the bilateral security agreement, which is valid until the end of 2028.
Speaking to Israeli state television KAN, a senior security official said, "We did not expect this statement. Especially today, we did not expect it at all. We are in constant dialogue with the Americans, but we can say that we were surprised." he said.
The official stated that the military and financial consequences of the decision, which has not yet been officially notified, will be examined.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan reacted to Trump's statement and argued that the development was a new failure for the Netanyahu administration.
Golan used the following statements in his statement on his social media account:
"Cutting American aid is a heavy blow to Israel's security and quality of life. In a period when defense expenditures are at their peak, weapons stockpiles are being reinforced, and air defenses are worn out after Iranian attacks, the security budget will fall entirely on the people. A responsible prime minister would not cut aid, but would fight to increase it."
US aid to Israel exceeded 300 billion dollars
According to the October 2025 report of the US-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the total economic and military aid Israel has received from the US since its establishment in 1948 exceeds 300 billion dollars with inflation-adjusted values.
The report stated that Israel has historically been the country that has benefited the most from US foreign aid.
It was noted that Israel received high amounts of economic aid in the 1971-2007 period, and today almost all of the support provided by the USA is directed directly to military financing.
In the report published by the US State Department in April 2025, it was reported that the current amount of bilateral aid provided to Israel since 1948 exceeded 130 billion dollars.
The difference between the amounts announced by the two institutions is due to the fact that the CFR is based on historical data adjusted for inflation, while the US State Department is based on current dollar amounts.
$16.3 billion in direct military aid since October 2023
The CFR report reminded that Israel has been using US-made weapons systems against its regional rivals, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, for decades.
It was stated that Israel could also receive emergency arms shipments in times of crisis from the "strategic stocks" that the USA has kept on the country's territory since the 1980s.
Since October 2023, when Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip began, the Washington administration has provided at least $16.3 billion in direct military aid to Israel through three separate legal regulations.
The amount in question included the $8.7 billion aid package approved in April 2024 and the annual appropriations of $3.8 billion allocated for 2024 and 2025.
6.7 billion dollars of the total support was allocated to missile defense systems.
Military aid agreement expires in 2028
According to US State Department data, Israel is the country that benefits most from US security assistance.
The military aid mechanism between the two countries is based on a 10-year memorandum of understanding covering the period 2019-2028.
Under the agreement, the United States provides a total of $3.8 billion to Israel every year, $3.3 billion through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program and $500 million through joint Missile Defense Programs.
Implementing the year-end cut announced by Trump will mean stopping military aid before the current agreement expires in 2028.
Since fiscal year 2009, the United States has allocated $3.4 billion to develop Israel's missile defense capacity. Of this amount, $1.3 billion was used in the development and supply of the "Iron Dome" system since 2011.
Washington also financed Israel's access to advanced military technologies, including F-35 fighter jets, through the FMF program.
Active military sales file worth $39.2 billion between the two countries
According to the US State Department's April 2025 data, the total value of 751 active defense procurement files in force between Israel and the USA within the scope of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) reaches 39.2 billion dollars.
Defense deals reported to the US Congress include F-35 fighter jets, CH-53K heavy transport helicopters, KC-46A refueling aircraft and precision-guided munitions.
The Washington administration also approved the permanent export of defense equipment and services worth more than 12.2 billion dollars to Israel within the scope of Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) in the 2018-2022 period.
These sales included aircraft engines, missile systems, rockets, torpedoes, bombs and mines.
Israel can benefit from cash flow financing within the scope of military financing provided by the United States.
The country can use the annual allowance allocated to it for the purchase of defense equipment, services and training through FMS, DCS or non-US procurement mechanism (OSP).
The current agreement also allows Israel to direct a certain portion of its annual military aid to purchases from its own defense industry instead of US-origin products.
In this context, the share that Israel could allocate to domestic defense equipment purchases reached 25 percent in the 2019 fiscal year.
History of military cooperation between the United States and Israel
Military cooperation between the USA and Israel includes arms aid and sales, as well as joint exercises, research activities and weapons development projects.
There are Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement dated 1952, General Security Information Agreement dated 1982, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement dated 1991 and Status of Forces Agreement dated 1994 between the two countries.
The security agreement, which was first signed between the USA and Israel in 1998, was renewed every 10 years.
The Washington administration agreed to provide $21.3 billion in military aid to Israel for the 10-year period starting in 1998, and $32 billion in military aid for the period starting in 2008.
In the last agreement, signed in 2016 and covering the years 2019-2028, a total of 38 billion dollars of military aid was committed.
Of this amount, $33 billion was allocated for military equipment purchases and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
