Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has declared that he wants his country to do without American military aid within ten years. The statement was made in an interview with The Economist magazine, published this Friday, 9.
Washington has approved the sale of tens of millions of dollars in military equipment to help Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, and both countries have maintained close defense collaboration ties for decades.
“During my visit to the president [Donald] Trump, I told him that we deeply appreciate the military aid that the United States has offered us over the years,” he told The Economist.
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“But we have also reached our maturity, we have developed extraordinary capabilities and our economy will soon reach, in a matter of a decade, a trillion dollars,” he added. “So I want to progressively reduce military aid over the next few years.”
Israel receives around 3.8 billion dollars (more than R$20 billion at current prices) in annual financial aid from the United States for the purchase of weapons, under an agreement signed in 2016, which came into force in 2019 and is valid until 2028.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Israel has received more than 300 billion dollars (R$1.6 trillion, at current prices) in military and economic aid since its founding in 1948, adjusted for inflation.
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In May, when relations between Netanyahu and President Trump appeared tense, the Israeli prime minister suggested that Israel would eventually have to “get used to” American military aid, without offering further explanation.
In a controversial speech in September, Netanyahu also pointed out that Israel was becoming increasingly isolated and needed to adopt a “super-Sparta” approach.
After the negative reaction to this comment, the Israeli leader stated that he was referring to the defense industry and that the country should become more self-sufficient to avoid possible supply problems.
