WASHINGTON—Israel will no longer receive $4 billion in annual funding from the United States after 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Nov. 3.

In an Election Day interview with Fox News, Trump said the aid in question “gets cut off at the end of the year.”

Trump said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the aid, and they agreed to cut it.

“They don’t need it. If they did need it, I would say keep it going. But Bibi Netanyahu, we reached an agreement on that. And can I be honest with you? He brought it up,” Trump said.

The U.S. president said he also recognizes that U.S. support for Israel has been a contentious topic.

Trump said, “Why should we suffer the slings” from people like Abdul El-Sayed “when they don’t need it?”

“It’s a bad talking point,” he said.

El-Sayed, the Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, has expressed support for an embargo on arms sales to Israel.

In 2016, the United States enacted a memorandum of understanding with Israel, under which it would provide about $38 billion in security assistance to Israel between fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2028. The deal covers $3.3 billion in annual foreign military financing for Israel, and an additional $500 million annually specifically for Israel’s missile defense enterprise.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Netanyahu’s office has not yet commented publicly on the matter.

In a May interview with CBS News, Netanyahu said he intended to reduce Israel’s dependence on U.S. foreign aid over the course of a decade.

“I think that it’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support,” the Israeli leader told CBS News.

In June, Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) sponsored a resolution to transition the U.S.–Israel relationship from one of direct U.S. support for Israel toward a model of cooperative development and production of military equipment. Netanyahu shared a letter endorsing Stutzman’s resolution.

During his Fox News interview on Tuesday, Trump said the United States will “help Israel if they need it.”

Trump also said Israel will be able to buy military equipment from the United States.

“They can buy whatever they want. So can Europe,” he said.

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main political rival in Israel’s 2026 elections, expressed dismay following Trump’s announcement on Tuesday.

“The fact that the security establishment, along with Israeli citizens, is learning about a change in the strategic relationship framework through the media highlights just how much Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct poses a genuine danger,” Eisenkot, who previously served as the chief of staff for the Israeli military, wrote in a post on X.

Netanyahu remains in power as a caretaker prime minister following Israel’s inconclusive election result this past week. Though Netanyahu’s Likud Party won the most Knesset seats in the multi-party race, his prospective coalition fell short of the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government.

The Likud-led bloc won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s bloc won 48 seats.

A pair of parties representing Israel’s Arab population won 19 Knesset seats. The two main political blocs in Israel have been reluctant to form a government with Arab party support.