What's Up with Netanyahu? Suddenly Says Israel Must "Break Free" from the US
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to “stop” his country’s dependence on the United States (US). This is particularly related to the financial aid that Washington has been providing to Tel Aviv all this time.
It should be noted that Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid since the Second World War. The Zionist state has received more than US$300 billion (approximately Rp5.25 quadrillion) in economic and military aid from the US since 1948.
Based on a ten-year agreement signed in 2016, the US is committed to providing US$38 billion in military aid to Israel until 2028, including US$5 billion for the Iron Dome missile defence system. Overall, American aid accounts for around 16% of the country’s military budget.
This was revealed in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes aired on Sunday. At that time, Netanyahu was asked whether it was time for the Jewish state to “re-examine and possibly readjust” its financial relationship with Washington.
“Of course. I have said this to President Trump. I have said it to our own people. They were shocked,” he replied.
“I want to reduce to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation we have,” he added, stating that the process must “start now” and be completed “in the next ten years”.
On the same occasion, Netanyahu also noted that he is very aware of the declining support for Israel in the US. A recent Pew poll showed that six out of ten Americans have a very or somewhat unfavourable view of Israel, up seven percentage points from last year and nearly 20 points since 2022.
However, he firmly rejected the notion that the war in Gaza may have “contributed to this negative impression of Israel”. He instead blamed the change almost entirely on social media.
“Israel is besieged on the media front, on the propaganda front, and we have not succeeded in the propaganda war,” he said.
“We have some countries that are basically manipulating social media with bot farms with fake addresses, to break American sympathy for Israel,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, in March, US Senator Bernie Sanders proposed three resolutions aimed at blocking arms sales worth nearly US$660 million to Israel. He argued that three-quarters of Democrats and two-thirds of independents oppose Washington sending weapons to the country.
The Democratic Party is the opposition to the current government. US President Donald Trump considers himself to be from the Republican Party.