Netanyahu Says 30-Year Promise to End US Aid Has Been Fulfilled

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Israel is moving toward gradually ending its reliance on US military assistance, describing the shift as the fulfillment of a direction Netanyahu first outlined 30 years ago.

In 1996, Netanyahu pledged to gradually end Israel’s reliance on $1.2 billion in US financial support. Three decades later, the Prime Minister’s Office pointed to Israel’s strong and stable economy as evidence that the country is now able to take a similar approach to military assistance.

“Israel and the United States are making the important move from aid to partnership,” the PMO wrote in a post on X.

The statement also highlighted Netanyahu’s comments during a May interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes: “I want to draw down to zero the American financial support.”

The development follows President Donald Trump’s announcement that US military aid to Israel will end, prompting discussions over how the two countries will transition to a new arrangement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the move as “something the Israelis themselves have offered us.”

The PMO framed the change as a sign of the strength of the US-Israel relationship, saying the “joint move by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump shows the strength of our relationship and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”

This article was independently written by the BJL Newsroom based on reporting from The Jerusalem Post and the Prime Minister’s Office.