Maariv: Netanyahu expressed a desire to abandon US security aid

Israeli Maariv newspaper reported on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his desire to gradually phase out US security aid.

This came during a session of the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Sunday, in a remarkable move that comes amid escalating tensions in his relationship with the US administration.

According to Maariv who cited informed sources, Netanyahu made statements during a heated session of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier Sunday, in which he announced his desire to wean off and gradually abandon US security assistance.

Netanyahu said during the session, “We receive about $4 billion annually to purchase weapons… I think we will move to dispense with it, just as we did with economic aid”.

Netanyahu didn’t explain though, the motivation behind his desire, but his alleged statement comes at a time of tense relations between Trump and Netanyahu.

Regarding the issue of recruiting ultra-Orthodox (Haredim) Jews, Netanyahu promised a new law that would only pass through committee, claiming that the law would lead to the recruitment of 10,500 Haredim Jews within two years.

According to sources to Maariv newspaper, Netanyahu’s statement provoked ridicule from Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who angrily responded, “This is less than 30% of the annual required recruits… How can you consider that an achievement?”

The Haredim have continued their protests against military service since the Supreme Court, which is Israel’s highest judicial body, ruled on June 25, 2024, that they must be conscripted and that financial aid shouldn’t be provided to religious institutions whose students refuse military service.

The voices of the chief rabbis, whose statements are viewed as religious edicts for the Haredim, are growing louder, calling for refusal to be drafted and even for the tearing up of summons orders.

The Haredim constitute approximately 13% of Israel’s population of 10 million.

They refuse military service, claiming to dedicate their lives to studying the Torah.

They believe that integration into secular society threatens their religious identity and the continuity of their community.