U.S. Aid Uncertainty Leaves Israel’s Arms Pipeline in Limbo

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said Thursday he didn’t know whether American military aid to Israel would stop immediately or continue until the current agreement expires at the end of 2028. The uncertainty follows President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that the assistance would end. The money and weapons sit inside a relationship managed by governments; ordinary people get no say in when its terms change.

The Aid Deal, Still in Motion

“I’m not sure. I don’t know that we know the answer to that just yet,” Huckabee told Channel 12 news. “We’re asking for some clarity on that. I’m sure the Israelis are as well.” He said the current memorandum of understanding “still has a couple of years left on it.”

Huckabee defended the arrangement by describing where its $3.8 billion goes. “All of that money is used, spent back in the United States for Israel to be buying the things that helped them make the Iron Dome, the David Sling, the Arrow Three missile system, purchasing F-35s, F-15s, F-16s, Apache helicopters,” he said. He added that Israel uses these systems “to defend its freedom and to defend its democracy.” The ambassador’s own account puts American public money into a military supply chain, while leaders debate whether to label the relationship aid or trade.

Asked whether Trump’s announcement was a mistake, Huckabee said no. He said the goal was “to move to a different relationship where it does not look like a package of aid, but rather a relationship of trade.” The wording may change; the weapons named in his explanation remain central to the deal.

President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that he knew of no agreement to end American military aid by the end of the year. Trump had said Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reached “a deal months ago.” “The issue of American aid worries me greatly. Greatly,” Herzog said at a meeting with Yashar party representatives at his residence in Jerusalem. “It hit me like a bolt out of the blue.” Herzog, too, noted that the memorandum runs through 2028.

Elections and Executive Power

Herzog said protecting ties with the United States was a key reason Israel should form a government and avoid another round of elections. Other senior Israeli and U.S. officials also said Trump’s announcement surprised them. Netanyahu had not commented, though he had previously said he wanted to phase out aid over the course of a decade. The public explanation for forming a government, in Herzog’s account, includes preserving the relationship that supports the military arrangement.

Huckabee said the U.S. government and embassy officially take no position on the Israeli election, although Trump endorsed Netanyahu before the vote. “It’s not our responsibility. We don’t want to touch that,” Huckabee told the network. Asked whether Trump might help form a coalition after inconclusive election results the previous week, Huckabee said, “He might — he’s certainly capable of doing something like that if it felt like it was the right thing and the right time to do it.” He also said Trump could invite Netanyahu and Yashar chief Gadi Eisenkot to the White House for talks.

War Decisions Behind Closed Doors

Huckabee disputed Vice President JD Vance’s claim that some Trump voters abandoned the Republican Party partly because of Trump’s support for Israel. Vance had also cited the Iran war as a key reason for the party’s losses to Democrats in the midterm elections. Huckabee said, “I don’t agree with that because I don’t think that’s where voters are,” and argued that only Democrats on the far left viewed the issue as important. He said “only 19% of Republicans” held that view.

Asked about renewed strikes on Iran, Huckabee said he didn’t think the decision had been made. “There’s probably two people in the whole world who know whether or not we’re going to go back into a military operation with Iran: President Trump and the Prime Minister,” he said. On military aid, elections and possible military operations, the public gets statements after—or while—leaders decide. The officials themselves describe how narrow that circle is.