“Like a bolt from the blue”: Israeli president shocked by Trump’s announcement of end of aid

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it was “like a bolt from the blue” when President Donald Trump announced he would end U.S. aid to Israel on Tuesday, the day of the midterm elections.

Herzog raised the issue during a meeting with the Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, the main rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The issue of American aid worries me a lot, and it also came to me like a bolt from the blue. We have a (memorandum of understanding) with the United States which is supposed to last until 2028 and that is one of the major objectives, and therefore a government must be formed and not have repeated elections,” he said.

Trump said aid to Israel would end this year, two years before the official end of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which provides Israel with $3.8 billion a year to buy American weapons.

But he offered few details in the announcement, which was made during a phone interview with Fox News on Election Day. Netanyahu made no public comment on the announcement.

“It’s a bad talking point, because when you say, ‘Why don’t we give $4 billion to everyone?’ Israel is our number one; we give them more than anyone else, and they don’t need it anymore,” Trump told Fox.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said he was seeking clarification on what would happen. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, he defended military aid, which has become increasingly unpopular within both the Democratic and Republican parties.

“Americans need to know the value of this relationship,” he said. “It’s not about what Americans put into it. It’s about what they get out of it. Maybe we haven’t done a good job helping the American public recognize and be grateful for the partnership with Israel, which has benefited their lives every day.”

Huckabee also disagreed with Vice President JD Vance, who said on X that relations with Israel contributed to Republican midterm losses. A strong supporter of Israel, Huckabee said: “I don’t think support for Israel is toxic within the conservative wing and the Republican Party. »