Top officials from Israel's defense establishment, the Foreign Ministry, and the Finance Ministry all fell out of their seats when Trump suddenly announced the end of decades of US military support.
Follow us on GoogleSo many bombshell events have happened since October 7, that many believe they will be insulated from shock at the unexpected event around the corner.
And yet, top officials from Israel's defense establishment, the Foreign Ministry, and the Finance Ministry all fell out of their seats on Tuesday when US President Donald Trump suddenly announced the unexpected end of decades of US military aid to Israel on live TV.
Israelis over the last year have gotten used to the idea that military aid would end at the end of 2028, which is the end of a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2018 under the Obama administration.
Some Israelis thought even that was a bad move to just accept without a fight, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had argued that Israel needed: 1) greater weapons independence and that 2) evolving politics in the US meant that an end to aid would likely happen whether Israel wanted it or not.
But there is around $8 billion that Israel's defense establishment was planning to use for a variety of items in the coming two years, from F-35 aircraft, to new F-15 aircraft, to helicopters, to defense interceptors, to a range of other weapons systems and joint weapons research projects.
Defense, Finance Ministries completed plans for NIS 15 billion
Only weeks ago, Israel's Defense and Finance Ministries ironed out a deal to disperse around NIS 15 billion, which the Knesset had already approved, but was holding onto out of concern that Israel is spending too much on defense.
In fairness, Israel's defense budget has jumped from the NIS 60 billion range to 80 to 100 to around NIS 143 billion in recent years due to the ongoing wars and escalating new threats on seven fronts.
Will the Finance Ministry suddenly need to ante up another $8 billion 9NIS 24 billion or more) over the next two years to cover this shortfall?
Will Israel have to drop or delay purchasing key offensive or defensive weapons systems at a critical time when it is in an arms race with its enemies?
And the most stunning part of all of this was that Trump said ending the aid in 2026, as opposed to 2028, was all Netanyahu's idea.
Here, some Israeli officials are speculating (hoping) that Trump got excited and mixed up, and meant 2028, but just said 2026.
Israeli, US officials had meetings over MOUs regarding weapons sales
The Jerusalem Post has learned that Israeli and American officials have had a number of meetings and exchanges over signing a new 10- or 20-year MOU, which would be more of a joint partnership for future weapons sales and research, since May.
None of these officials had any inkling that the military aid might end two years early.
Also, Trump did not make this announcement of his own initiative, with advisers nearby shepherding him through.
Rather, he tossed it out in response to a question in an interview on Fox News.
So maybe Israelis feel out of their chairs, but shortly after, Netanyahu's staff and Trump's staff confirmed that he misspoke, and they just do not want to fix it on midterm election day, as the US, Israel, and Iran may be on the verge of another round of war.
All Israeli officials, who were shocked, referred questions to Netanyahu, who was uncharacteristically deafeningly silent at press time.
But it could also all be true.
Netanyahu not above cutting deals behind IDF, Mossad chiefs backs
Case 3000, the Submarine Affair, showed that Netanyahu is not above cutting deals over major national security issues with foreign countries around the backs of the IDF and Mossad chiefs.
He basically signed the Abraham Accords without mentioning it to his then foreign minister.
The story goes that this was former minister Ron Dermer's idea, to garner favor with Trump and preempt the issue from being used as a political weapon against Israel.
Maybe Netanyahu started talking about ending the aid in 2028, which initially surprised Trump, but later the US president got excited, and so they changed the end date to the end of 2026.
Or there was no such deal, but Netanyahu is worried about confronting Trump publicly, lest the president double down on a major policy issue, to avoid looking mixed up and embarrassed.
Then again, maybe he will still give all of the money, but will call it ad hoc gifts, not legally committed aid, to try to gain political cover, and keep it under the radar.
Whatever the case, top Israeli defense officials need to know immediately what money they have to spend, and what money they do not have to spend, so that Jerusalem is ready for balancing its many security challenges.
This is not a region where getting surprised on defense leads to no casualties and a free pass.
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · YONAH JEREMY BOB
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