Netanyahu hopes to ‘taper’ Israel off U.S. military aid in next decade

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‍in an interview published on Friday (January 9, 2026) that he hopes ​to “taper off” Israeli dependence on U.S. military ‌aid in the next decade.

Mr. Netanyahu has said ​Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from Washington.

“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Mr. Netanyahu told ​the Economist. Asked if that meant a ⁠tapering “down to zero,” he said: “Yes.”

Mr. Netanyahu said he told U.S. President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid ​that America has given ⁠us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”

In December, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 ‌billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry ‌to reduce dependency on other countries.

In 2016, the U.S. and Israeli governments signed ‍a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 ‍billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defence systems.

Israeli defence exports rose 13% last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defence technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defence systems.

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel supporter and close ally of Mr. Trump, said on X that “we need ⁠not wait ten years” to begin scaling back military aid to Israel.

“The billions in ​taxpayer dollars that would be saved by expediting the ⁠termination of military aid to Israel will and should be ploughed back into the U.S. military,” Graham said. “I will be presenting a proposal to Israel and the Trump administration to dramatically ⁠expedite the timetable.”