Trump Is Right: A Thriving Israel Doesn't Need a $4 Billion Check
The President says he and Netanyahu agreed to wind down annual US aid. That isn't abandoning an ally. It's what a grown-up alliance looks like.
By Clara Hughes
On the morning Americans went to the polls, President Trump made news on a subject most politicians in Washington treat as untouchable. Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, he said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to stop the yearly US aid payments to Israel. "Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping," the President said, according to the BBC. He added: "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." On Fox & Friends he put it more simply, PolitiFact reported: "Israel is a very thriving country... They don't need it. If they did need it, I would say keep it going." That is the right instinct. It is also the most pro-Israel position on the table, even if the usual voices in Washington won't see it that way. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: what the 2016 aid deal actually says, why Netanyahu himself asked to "draw down" to zero, what still stands between the President's words and the federal budget, and why ending the check makes the