Israel has ordered billions of dollars worth of American military hardware beyond what the U.S. has committed to paying for, illustrating how hard it would be to phase out Washington’s funding for the country.
American support for the country has been one of the issues at the center of an election that led to major Republican losses in Congress. Vice President JD Vance, in a post on X, cited the war in Iran and the U.S. relationship with Israel as among the top reasons voters went against Republicans. U.S. and Israeli officials have been discussing for months a potential phasing out of American military aid.
In recent decades, the U.S. has pledged aid to Israel in a series of 10-year agreements, the most recent of which was a 10-year memorandum of understanding agreed to by the Obama administration. That deal, which runs through 2028, pledged $3.3 billion each year in U.S. military aid, known as Foreign Military Financing. In 2024, Congress also approved about $26 billion in additional support to Israel during the height of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack. Even after those funds run out, Israel would still need another $10 billion to pay for its existing orders, according to a letter from the State Department to the office of Rep.
The disclosure comes as President Trump said Tuesday that he planned to end aid to Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the country should eventually wean itself off U.S. aid, proposing to eliminate direct aid over the coming decade. The requirements “could be covered either by FMF, national funds, or both,” says the letter, meaning that either the U.S. or Israel could end up paying for the orders. “Even if the MOU ran its full course to 2028, there’s still $10 billion above and beyond that, and there’s an issue of who’s going to pay for that,” Castro said in an interview. “It’s not plausible we stop by the end of this year” because of funding already committed by Congress, said Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned during the Biden administration to protest its support for the war in Gaza.
Joaquin Castro (D., Texas), who inquired about the funds earlier this year.
The U.S. has already pledged nearly $7 billion in annual U.S. military aid over the next two years. Beyond 2028, Israel would need approximately $10 billion to pay for outstanding orders as of April 1, according to a State Department document sent to Congress and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
It’s unclear how much that amount might have changed since then.
