$10 billion in preexisting US arms orders to Israel are complicating Trump’s push to end funding - report

Israel has ordered billions of dollars worth of American military hardware beyond what the US has committed to paying for in aid, illustrating how hard it would be to phase out Washington’s funding.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which reviewed a State Department document sent to Congress, the US has pledged nearly $7 billion in annual military aid over the next two years, with Israel needing approximately $10 billion to pay for outstanding orders past 2028, as of April 1.

It is unclear how much that amount has changed since then.

The disclosure comes as President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he planned to end aid to Israel. Trump said ending direct aid would deprive Democratic critics of Israel of a political talking point, referring to the campaign of Abdul El-Sayed, who was elected the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate from Michigan.

El-Sayed campaigned on ending unconditional aid to Israel. Vice President JD Vance, in a post on X, cited the war in Iran and the US relationship with Israel among the top reasons voters went against Republicans.

Israel receives about $3.3 billion in funding each year that can be used to buy American-made military hardware, including bombs, vehicles, and jet fighters. The structure lets Israel use pledged future funding to buy equipment before receiving the money.

However, that $3.3 billion deal is part of US pledged aid to Israel via a 10-year memorandum of understanding agreed to by the Obama administration. That deal ends in 2028.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) raised the concern that even after those funds run out, Israel would still need another $10 billion to pay for its existing orders.

Lawmakers have drafted legislation that would shift funding from foreign financing to defense investments and joint production of military technologies. Advocates say the proposal, which would write US Israel military cooperation into US law through the annual defense policy package, would ease Pentagon cooperation with Israel on procuring technologies. Critics say it would embed Israel deeper into Pentagon supply chains and make the cooperation harder to repeal in a future Congress.

Unwinding the current system would likely take years, the Journal reported, and switching to a new one would raise questions about who pays for orders due to be delivered in the future, such as Israel’s plan to buy a squadron of 25 new F-35 jet fighters.

Current and former US officials said an abrupt end is unlikely. “It’s not plausible we stop by the end of this year” because of funding already committed by Congress, said Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned during the Biden administration to protest its support for the war in Gaza. “We’ve not seen anything yet to substantiate this,” said Paul, who said he would support an aid shutdown.