By Staff Reporter |
On Election Day, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would no longer provide aid to Israel.
Arizona’s representative for the Eighth Congressional District proposed the idea of ending aid months ago.
Rep. Abe Hamadeh praised the president’s decision. Rather than supplying military aid, as it has done for more than 60 years, the federal government will prioritize trade with the ally country going forward.
In a press release, Hamadeh stated that this diplomatic shift would restore the benefits the U.S. receives from its relationship with Israel, and set a healthier standard for foreign relations by ceasing the “blank check” approach that has been flagging the nation’s economy.
Hamadeh pointed out that he and fellow Rep. Marlin Stutzman, of Michigan, had delivered much of the same message to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year.
Hamadeh and Stutzman proposed a congressional resolution to transition the U.S.-Israel alliance to a trade partnership and away from foreign aid. The two congressmen made the case that the U.S. should end its approximately $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel and instead encourage the country to buy American weapons and defense technology with its own money. Now, the U.S. will do just that.
“President Trump is right: the future of our relationship with Israel has to be trade, not aid,” said Hamadeh. “America First has never meant America alone. It means strong partners, not permanent dependents. Peace through strength. Commerce, not blank checks. That’s how we put the American people first.”
U.S. aid to Israel will cease at the end of the year. Trump made the announcement of the new deal with the U.S. ally in an interview on Fox News on Tuesday morning.
Technically speaking, the end to aid represents a premature cutoff; the U.S. and Israel had a memorandum of understanding that aid would last until 2028.
“Israel’s our number one. We give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it. We’ve been doing it for years. I’ve been doing it,” said Trump. “I’m going to put it in any way you want to define it. You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash. It’s what we give them — $4 billion of things and money, and they don’t need it.”
Trump said that Israel was “thriving” and no longer in need of U.S. aid, and indicated that it was Netanyahu’s idea to end the funding. According to the president, end to aid had been a topic of discussion between the two world leaders for years.
“I was approached by Bibi Netanyahu, and we’ve been talking about it for a couple of years because it’s a lot of money,” said Trump. “He brought it up. He said, ‘I think it would be appropriate if we do not receive aid.’”
Trump also indicated that the continued U.S. aid to Israel was hurting the Republican Party among voters, referencing Democratic contender Abdul El-Sayed in the hotly contested Senate race in Michigan.
“Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like El-Sayed when they don’t need it?” said Trump. “It’s a bad talking point.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
