Netanyahu says Israel must prepare for an end to U.S. defense aid and possible banking sanctions after Trump leaves office

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel should prepare for a future in which U.S. defense assistance comes to an end and Washington could become less friendly or even impose financial pressure after President Donald Trump leaves office.

Netanyahu made the remarks in his wide-ranging pre-election interview with The Jerusalem Post, published ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.

Asked whether he feared what would happen after Trump, including under a possible JD Vance presidency, Netanyahu said no U.S. president had ever been as friendly to Israel as Trump and doubted another would be.

“So we have to prepare for a rainy day, and I’m preparing for it,” Netanyahu said.

He said Israelis should also get used to the idea that large-scale U.S. assistance for Israel’s defense would eventually end. “It’s over. It’s over, and it will come to an end. It’s only a matter of time,” he said, arguing that the change was taking place in America rather than Israel.

The current U.S.-Israel military assistance agreement runs through fiscal year 2028 and provides $38 billion over 10 years, including $3.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million a year for missile defense, subject to congressional appropriations.

Netanyahu also warned that Israel could face sanctions in the future, including restrictions involving the banking system, and said the country needed an economy capable of bypassing such pressure. He said he was also examining alternative currency arrangements.

He argued that Israel needed a leaner and more self-reliant defense establishment, comparing Western militaries to “an enormous sumo wrestler, full of fat” because of spending on salaries and benefits, while describing Israel’s military as only “slightly chubby.”

Turning to Israel’s election, Netanyahu predicted markets would respond strongly to the result, saying a victory for his bloc would make the stock market “very green,” while the alternatives would bring what he called a major economic disaster.