Israeli President Isaac Herzog said President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday, the day of the midterm elections, that he would cut off U.S. aid to Israel was “like a bolt out of the blue.”
Herzog raised the issue during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arch-rival, Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party.
“The US aid issue worries me very much, and it also hit me like a bolt out of the blue. We have a (memorandum of understanding) with the US that is supposed to last until 2028, and this is one of our major goals, so we must form a government and not repeat elections,” he said.
President Trump said aid to Israel will end this year, two years ahead of the official end of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that provides Israel with $3.8 billion a year to buy U.S. weapons.
But in a phone interview with Fox News on Election Day, he offered few details in his announcement. Prime Minister Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the announcement.
“That’s a bad story, because then you say, ‘What if we gave everyone $4 billion?'” Israel is our number one. We give them more than anyone else, and they don’t need it anymore,” President Trump told FOX.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he wanted clarification on what would happen. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News, he defended military aid, which has become increasingly unpopular with both Democrats and Republicans.
“Americans need to know the value of this relationship,” he said. “It’s not about what Americans are putting into it, it’s about what they’re getting out of it. Maybe we’re not doing a good enough job of helping Americans recognize and appreciate the partnership with Israel that benefits their daily lives.”
Mr. Huckabee also disagreed with Vice President J.D. Vance, who said on the X show that relations with Israel contributed to the Republican Party’s defeat in the midterm elections. Huckabee, a passionate supporter of Israel, said: “I don’t think support for Israel is harmful to conservatives or Republicans.”
Mr. Herzog faces an important task in the wake of his own country’s election, while also dealing with President Trump’s announcement that the United States would cut $4 billion in aid to Israel.
Eisenkot was sworn in with the support of a majority of Israel’s next parliament after a meeting between the president and elected political parties following Israel’s elections late last month. Mr. Herzog held two days of consultations with representatives of all political parties elected to the next parliament.
Netanyahu won just 46 seats, far short of the required majority of 61 seats, after one of his ultra-Orthodox allies refused to support him. Eisenkot secured the support of 67 members of parliament, 19 of which are held by Arab-led parties, complicating his path to ousting Israel’s longest-serving leader.
Herzog now needs to decide who will be given the power to form the next government, and said he would do so on Sunday. “While the outcome of the consultations may seem clear, the power given to me by law is to decide who has the capacity to form a government, and that is not entirely clear,” he said after meeting with all parties. Eisenkot’s party said in a statement Thursday night that it expects to receive a mandate to form a government.
“There is no question of the people’s decision and the clear majority in parliament. The Israeli people have chosen change and expressed absolute no confidence in the outgoing Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government,” Yashar’s party said. The statement went on to say that Prime Minister Netanyahu has “no mandate, no majority, and no trust of the people.”
Whoever is chosen will have 28 days to negotiate with other parties on cabinet positions, budgets and policies. A 14-day extension is also possible. If he fails, the job will be passed to another candidate for another four weeks. If he fails, Congress will have a short time to field another candidate. If that is not possible, the country will automatically return to the vote. Prime Minister Netanyahu will remain interim prime minister until a new government is formed in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost his parliamentary majority, is still contesting the election results, claiming the votes were “stolen” by Arab-led parties through bribes, foreign funding and fraud. Opposition parties claim he is trying to delay his swearing-in in parliament on Tuesday and block plans to replace the speaker of parliament with an opposition lawmaker.
