US Aid to Israel Will Not End This Year as Draft Deal Halves Package to $16.5 Billion

US aid to Israel will not end this year after all. A draft agreement taking shape between Washington and Jerusalem would keep direct American military financing at close to its current level for five more years, totalling about $16.5 billion, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday, November 9, 2026. The report directly contradicts President Donald Trump's claim on Election Day that the aid would stop at the end of this year.

Key Points

• Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday, November 9, 2026, that US military aid to Israel will not end this year, despite President Donald Trump's Election Day claim that it would be cut off.
• Under the emerging security memorandum, direct military financing would stay near $3.3 billion a year for five years after the current agreement expires in 2028, from 2029 to 2033, totalling roughly $16.5 billion.
• After 2033, direct military aid would end entirely, roughly halving the current $33 billion package.
• Funding for missile defence — Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow — would rise by an undisclosed amount.
• Negotiators aim to finalise it before the end of 2026, before the new Democratic-controlled Congress takes office in January.

What Happened

The report, from Israel's largest-circulation newspaper, landed a week after Trump stunned allies and Israeli officials on Fox News on November 3, 2026. Speaking on Election Day, the president said of the annual payment: "We were giving them $4 billion... it gets cut off at the end of the year." He said he had struck a deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu months earlier because Israel "no longer need[s] it".

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the reality at the negotiating table is very different. Under the draft security memorandum, direct military financing would continue at about $3.3 billion a year for five years once the existing agreement expires in 2028, worth roughly $16.5 billion for 2029 to 2033. Only then would direct military aid stop.

That is roughly half the current ten-year package, worth about $33 billion. Missile defence funding would move the other way, rising by an undisclosed amount. The current memorandum, signed in 2016, runs through September 2028 and pays $3.3 billion a year in military financing plus $500 million a year for missile defence.

A senior Israeli official assessed the announcement was largely domestic politics, aimed at helping Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who went on to win the seat.

Background and Context

The confusion is striking because the American aid relationship with Israel is one of the longest-running in US foreign policy: Israel has received more than $300 billion in inflation-adjusted American assistance since 1948.

Trump's announcement caught Israel's leadership off guard. President Isaac Herzog told a meeting on Thursday, November 5, that the decision came "like a bolt from the blue" and that "the issue of the American aid worries me greatly". Netanyahu said nothing publicly for days.

Netanyahu's office broke its silence on November 6, saying on X that the move "from aid to partnership shows the strength and sophistication of our relationship". Netanyahu had previously spoken of ending aid gradually over a decade.

US Aid to Israel: The Draft Deal in Numbers

The numbers tell the story of a compromise between Trump's announcement and the status quo. Direct military financing would hold at about $3.3 billion a year, the level Israel has received throughout the current memorandum. But instead of ten years, as the current $33 billion package runs, it would run for five, from 2029 to 2033, for about $16.5 billion in total. After that, direct aid ends.

Missile defence is the one area where the money would grow: funding for Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow would rise by an undisclosed amount, on top of the $500 million a year Israel currently receives.

A bilateral memorandum needs no Senate ratification. But Congress must still appropriate the money each year, and that is where Israeli officials see the real risk: the incoming Democratic-controlled House could stall or condition payments.

Reactions and Quotes

The Israeli reaction has been relief mixed with caution: a $16.5 billion extension is a very different outcome from the abrupt end Trump described on Election Day, giving Israel's defence planners a five-year horizon they did not have a week ago.

Herzog's warning captured the anxiety in Jerusalem. "The issue of the American aid worries me greatly," he said. Netanyahu's office, by contrast, presented the shift as a deliberate evolution toward partnership.

The American side is being run for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Israel represented by its Defence Ministry and embassy officials. Both sides want it finalised before the end of 2026.

Why It Matters

The draft deal settles, for now, the most consequential question in the US-Israel relationship: whether the era of American military aid is ending, or merely shrinking. The answer is that it is shrinking, but slowly. Five more years at $3.3 billion a year gives Israel time to adjust its defence budget, while the rise in missile defence funding acknowledges the threats Israel faces have not diminished.

It also matters for American politics. Trump's announcement was read in Israel as a domestic political move, aimed at a Senate race in Michigan, and the draft deal now has to survive a Congress that will look very different in January.

What Happens Next

Negotiators aim to finalise the memorandum before the end of 2026, leaving about seven weeks to settle the details, including the missile defence increase and the language on the transition after 2033.

The next test comes in January, when the new Congress takes office. A memorandum is not a treaty, so it needs no Senate ratification, but every dollar of the $16.5 billion must still be appropriated year by year. Watch whether the incoming Democratic majority attaches conditions to the first appropriation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is US military aid to Israel ending this year? No. A draft deal keeps direct military financing at about $3.3 billion a year for five years after the current agreement expires in 2028, about $16.5 billion, before ending in 2033.

What did President Trump say on Election Day? On Fox News on November 3, 2026, Trump said the US gave Israel $4 billion a year and that "it gets cut off at the end of the year", claiming a deal with Netanyahu months earlier.

How much is the current aid package worth? The 2016 memorandum runs to September 2028 and is worth about $33 billion over ten years: $3.3 billion a year in military financing plus $500 million a year for missile defence.

What happens to missile defence funding? It would rise by an undisclosed amount, on top of the current $500 million a year.

When will the deal be finalised? Negotiators aim to finish before the end of 2026, before the new Congress takes office in January. Congress must still appropriate the money each year.

Read more on US News Pulse: Trump Says US Will Stop $4 Billion Annual Funding to Israel by End of 2026, Israel's President Says Trump's Aid Cut Hit "Like a Bolt From the Blue" and Netanyahu's Office Breaks Silence on US Aid Halt, Recasting It as Aid to Partnership.