Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just said something Washington’s professional aid-industrial complex probably didn’t want to hear.
In a wide-ranging interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Netanyahu declared that Israel should eventually stop taking American taxpayer money altogether. Not someday in a distant utopia. Not after another “strategic reassessment.” He wants the phaseout to start now.
That’s right: the leader of America’s closest Middle East ally is openly saying the gravy train should come to an end.
Asked by correspondent Major Garrett whether Israel should “reexamine and possibly reset” its financial relationship with the United States, Netanyahu didn’t hedge, filibuster or launch into diplomat-speak.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
Then came the line that probably sent half of Capitol Hill lunging for the smelling salts.
“I want to draw down to zero the American financial support — the financial component of the military cooperation that we have — because we receive $3.8 billion per year. And I think it’s time we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.”
That’s not some fringe anti-foreign-aid Republican saying it on a podcast. That’s Israel’s wartime prime minister.
Netanyahu even revealed he had already floated the idea to Israeli lawmakers and to President Donald Trump. According to Bibi, their “jaws dropped.”
No kidding.
For decades, support for Israel has been treated in Washington as one of the few untouchable line items in the federal ledger — right up there with Pentagon overruns and congressional pay raises. The current agreement sends Israel roughly $3.8 billion annually through 2028, mostly in military assistance.
But Netanyahu’s comments land at a combustible political moment.
The American public has grown increasingly divided over the US-Israel alliance since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and the brutal regional fallout that followed. Polling in recent years has shown support slipping, particularly among younger voters and progressives. During the interview, Garrett cited survey data showing unfavorable views of Israel climbing sharply among Americans.
Netanyahu blamed social media for much of the collapse in Western support, arguing platforms have allowed anti-Israel narratives to spread unchecked since Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli communities in 2023. In his view, TikTok geopolitics and influencer activism have replaced actual history lessons.
Meanwhile, critics of the alliance have become louder and more mainstream. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has vowed to oppose military aid to Israel altogether, while conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has repeatedly argued that America is being dragged into foreign conflicts that serve Israeli interests more than its own.
Trump, never exactly subtle, pushed back on those claims earlier this year, insisting, “If anything, I might’ve forced Israel’s hand.”
But here’s the irony nobody in Washington wants to grapple with: Netanyahu’s remarks sound closer to the America First argument than to the bipartisan foreign-policy gospel preached inside the Beltway for decades.
The Israeli leader isn’t saying America owes his country more. He’s saying the dependency should end.
Imagine that — a foreign leader asking Washington to stop writing checks while Congress can’t even stop itself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells 60 Minutes he wants Israel to eventually stop relying on U.S. military aid: “It’s time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.” https://t.co/mEN4CWeXMW pic.twitter.com/LIwJKrfMOQ
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 10, 2026
