Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Washington would stop providing annual funding of around $4 billion to Israel from the end of this year, claiming he had reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the assistance.

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Trump announced this in an interview with Fox News' Fox and Friends as voting began in the US midterm elections. He said Israel no longer needed the financial support but added that the US would extend assistance if required.

“Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4bn a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump told the channel.

“We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it.”

Asked why Washington was ending the assistance, Trump said, “Because they don’t need it. If they did need it, I would say ‘keep going.'”

It was not immediately clear what specific form of assistance Trump was referring to. The announcement comes amid uncertainty over the future of the long-standing US-Israel military assistance arrangement. A 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2016 provides for $38 billion in US military assistance to Israel between 2019 and 2028. This includes $3.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for missile defence programmes.

Trump's reference to $4 billion is therefore higher than the $3.8 billion annual assistance provided under the existing agreement. The US president did not clarify whether his announcement covered all military assistance, missile defence funding or another form of support.

Netanyahu has previously expressed a desire to gradually end Israel's dependence on US military assistance. In a May interview with CBS, he said he wanted to phase out American financial support over a decade, while continuing broader military cooperation.

Trump's announcement also comes against the backdrop of growing political divisions in the US over Washington's support for Israel, particularly since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Support for continued military assistance has faced increasing scrutiny from sections of the Democratic Party, with some lawmakers seeking to restrict or end such funding.

The issue has also become a point of debate during the US midterm election campaign, with candidates questioning the scale of American financial and military support to Israel.