President Donald Trump has said the United States will end about $4 billion in annual aid to Israel by the end of the year, saying he reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Israel, which he called "a very thriving country", no longer needs the money.

Mr Trump made the announcement in a phone interview with Fox News on Tuesday, November 3 — Election Day in the US midterms — saying: "It gets cut off at the end of the year… They don't need it." He added that the United States would still help Israel if it needed it, but said: "By end of this year, we won't be paying Israel."

A deal running to 2028

The claim immediately raised questions, because the aid is governed by a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2016 under former President Barack Obama, covering fiscal years 2019 through 2028. Under it, the US provides about $3.8 billion a year in military aid, mostly Foreign Military Financing that Israel spends on weapons and equipment from American manufacturers, plus missile-defence funding that brings the total package to $38 billion over the decade.

Mr Trump said he and Mr Netanyahu had discussed ending the aid for a couple of years and agreed months ago to stop it. As of Tuesday afternoon no confirmation had emerged from the Israeli government, and Israeli press reports cited by Le Monde said neither Israel's military nor its Treasury was aware of the decision.

Netanyahu's own taper plan

Mr Netanyahu has himself spoken openly about ending US military aid, but on a far longer timeline. In January he told The Economist he wanted to "taper off" the aid within 10 years, saying: "I want to draw down to zero the American financial support," and adding that the shift should be done "over the next decade".

Just days before last week's election, Mr Netanyahu told an Israeli news channel that the end of US aid was coming. Mr Trump, meanwhile, suggested a political motive, questioning why Republicans should "suffer the slings" from Democratic candidates over aid to Israel when, in his view, Israel is not in need of assistance. Aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza was one of the midterm campaign's most contentious issues.

What happens next is unclear

Whether the president can unilaterally end the funding is in doubt: changing existing authorised programmes would require congressional action, and analysts quoted by CNN said it was unclear whether Mr Trump meant the aid would stop immediately or simply not be renewed when it expires in 2028.

For now, no text of any agreement has been published and no joint announcement has been made, and the existing pact runs to 2028. What is certain is the political signal — an Election Day declaration from a president long described as the most pro-Israel of modern times that a long-standing aid relationship is coming to an end.