Netanyahu Wants Israel off US Military Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel wants to end its dependence on US military aid within a decade.

In an interview with the CBS News program 60 Minutes, Netanyahu said the aim was to reduce the financial part of military cooperation with the US to zero, while strengthening strategic ties with Gulf states.

Israel receives about $3.8bn a year in US military aid. The US has agreed to provide a total of $38bn in military aid to Israel from 2018 to 2028.

“I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have”, Netanyahu told CBS.

“I don't want to wait for the next Congress”, he said. “I want to start now.”

The remarks come as support for Israel has weakened among Americans. According to a Pew survey conducted in March, 60% of US adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, while 59% have little or no confidence in Netanyahu to do the right thing in world affairs. Both figures were up seven percentage points from a year earlier.

Netanyahu said the deterioration in support for Israel in the United States “correlates almost 100% with the geometric rise of social media”. He said several unnamed countries had “basically manipulated” social media in a way that “hurt us badly”.

Netanyahu also addressed the war with Iran. He said Israeli planners recognized only after the war began that Iran had the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil normally passes. Restrictions on traffic through the strait have contributed to higher fuel prices and inflation.

He also suggested that weakening the Iranian regime could spell the end of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels.

Asked whether it was possible to topple the Iranian regime, he replied: “Is it possible? Yes. Is it guaranteed? No.”

(reuters, max)