Trump's military aid bombshell exposes Netanyahu's greatest failure - opinion

ByBEN CASPITNOVEMBER 4, 2026 10:25

US President Donald Trump's claim that he has reached a deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end American military aid to Israel raises the prospect of a far greater disaster than the loss of billions of dollars annually: the collapse of Israel's most important strategic alliance. And Netanyahu bears responsibility for a catastrophe that could change Israel's future.

Ever since Trump said he had a "deal" with Bibi under which the United States would end its military aid to Israel, I have been praying that this was just another bizarre slip of the tongue, another absurd piece of presidential nonsense in the very long series of nonsensical statements uttered by the most powerful man in the world since his return to the White House.

On one hand, it might be real. And on the other hand, even if Trump exaggerated, even if the aid is not discontinued before the 10-year agreement expires at the end of 2028, one thing is clear: We are losing America. This is not a process. It is not happening in stages. It is happening all at once. An avalanche. The resounding collapse of the cornerstone of Israel's national security doctrine.

This is not an inevitable decree of fate. It is a decree of Netanyahu. No, we are not supposed to give up American military aid ($4 billion a year). Absolutely not. This was never on the cards, never in anyone's playbook, under any scenario. Quite the opposite. Former US pesident Joe Biden repeatedly said that American support for Israel was "rock solid."

It was the "antisemitic" Barack Obama who signed the agreement providing Israel with $4 billion a year for a decade. Throughout the years of the alliance between Israel and America, it was understood that this support came without conditions, that it was bipartisan, stable, and beyond dispute.

Netanyahu's role in the erosion of US support for Israel

All of that is over. On Netanyahu's watch. Under his sole and unmistakable responsibility. Fortunately, he cannot blame the attorney-general for this. Nor can he blame Justice Noam Sohlberg. Not even "the Left." This is Netanyahu's handiwork, his achievement to boast about. It is a tragedy whose consequences will be felt for generations, one that is difficult to put into words.

For generations, Israel's national security rested on its alliance with America. For generations, the keys to Washington were held in Jerusalem. Anyone who wanted to reach the White House went through the prime minister's office.

That situation has been turned on its head. We have become a pariah state in the world, and now that status is seeping into America as well.

It began in 2015, when Netanyahu insisted on outmaneuvering Obama and delivering a speech to a joint session of Congress behind his back. He was warned that the speech would not stop the nuclear agreement with Iran, which was already a done deal, but that it would undermine Democratic Party support for Israel.

So he was warned. Bibi wanted to defeat Bougie Herzog, with the elections taking place two weeks later, and nothing else mattered to him.

That prediction came true. The episode set the Democratic snowball rolling, and it eventually became an avalanche. No more bipartisan support for Israel across the political divide.

Then came the Republicans' turn. Now we have lost them, too. The government of lunatics this man assembled here solely to escape the threat of prosecution has turned Israel into a country that is impossible to support.

Our staunchest supporters have distanced themselves from us. They looked at Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Amichai Eliyahu and Shlomo Karhi, at the assault on democracy, at the reckless bluster about Gaza, starvation and all the other chatter that characterized the leaders of the Israeli Right throughout the war, and they kept their distance.

Who authorized Netanyahu's deal with Trump?

There were troubling words in Trump's astonishing remarks on Tuesday. "I reached an agreement with Bibi," he said. With Bibi. Not with the State of Israel.

Did Netanyahu hold any kind of professional discussion before deciding to strike a deal with Trump and give up NIS 12 billion a year? Was there a discussion with the Defense Ministry? With the Finance Ministry? Did the National Security Council carry out any preparatory work? How was the decision made?

All these questions will remain unanswered, like all the other questions raised throughout Netanyahu's disastrous years in power.

Whom did he consult, for example, before authorizing the Germans to sell submarines to Egypt? Questions of this kind. Fateful questions without answers.

These are the events that have transformed Israel from one of the world's most influential countries, a light unto the nations and a beacon of democracy and progress in the Middle East, into a country shunned in disgust.

And it is all Netanyahu's doing. Made in Israel.

It is not too late. The damage can be repaired. It is reversible. We do not have to give up anything essential. We do not have to evacuate settlements, establish a Palestinian state or compromise on security.

All we have to do is return to being a sane country, one that operates within some kind of reasonable framework. A democratic country that enforces law and order for everyone, not just minorities. A country whose leaders and ministers think about the national interest rather than the next party primaries.

Believe it or not, it is possible.

How do I know? Because until recently, that was the country we were.

Until January 2023.

Follow us on Google

---