US and Israel negotiating $3B aid payments through 2033, despite Trump saying aid will end this yea

The US and Israel are negotiating annual 3.3 billion dollar military aid payments through 2033, despite Trump's announcement that aid to Israel would end this year. Israel's our number one, we give them more than anybody else, and they no longer need it. We've been doing it for years, I've been doing it, but Israel is a very thriving country, they don't need it. Trump's sudden announcement brought into question whether such a move could be taken unilaterally so quickly. Within a week, Israeli media reported that negotiations were going to continue some aid under a framework that would keep aid going until at least 2033. U.S. aid to Israel is dictated by a 2016 Memorandum of Understanding signed under former President Barack Obama, which set funding levels from fiscal 2019 through 2028, amounting to a total of $38 billion. The majority of this provides foreign governments to spend almost exclusively on U.S. weapons The emerging deal is a $16.5 billion commitment over five years, keeping the annual aid at a more or less stable total of $3.3 billion per year, possibly signaling Washington and Jerusalem are serious about a gradual cutoff of aid. It was reported that much of Congress is resistant to the sudden aid cutoff due to the economic implications that could cost jobs in the U.S. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office more or less confirmed the deal in a Wednesday statement, touting it as an accomplishment and portraying it as a gradual cutoff in aid. The agreement is intended to be finalized by the end of 2026. A bilateral MOU doesn't require direct congressional approval, but Congress does get oversight through the need to appropriate the aid funding at the end of each year. The current Congress will vote on appropriations before they pass the torch to the next Congress. While Israeli officials signaled that they were confident the deal would pass, they were worried about the future implications. The appropriations bill must be passed every year, Setting up a showdown. with the Democratic-dominated House and Senate next year.