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Republican Proposes Ending Military Aid to Israel, Netanyahu Reportedly Supportive
🇩🇿 Algeria /Conflict & Security

Republican Proposes Ending Military Aid to Israel, Netanyahu Reportedly Supportive

From El Watan · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • A Republican congressman from Indiana has proposed ending the $3.8 billion annual military aid to Israel.
  • The proposal, supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aims to shift the U.S.-Israel relationship to one based on defense, trade, and technological investment.
  • This initiative seeks to renegotiate the current memorandum of understanding, which expires in 2028, and foster a more mature partnership between the two nations.

A Republican representative from Indiana is spearheading a significant proposal in the U.S. Congress to end the annual $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel. Representative Marlin Stutzman has introduced a non-binding resolution that calls for negotiations on a new memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tel Aviv.

The core of Stutzman's initiative is to phase out direct military aid and replace it with a framework emphasizing cooperation in defense, trade, and technological investment. This move is particularly noteworthy due to the reported support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Stutzman told the Jerusalem Post that Netanyahu expressed his backing for the proposal during a recent meeting.

It is time to move from the status of a country receiving aid to that of a partner country.

— Benjamin NetanyahuReportedly stated to Representative Marlin Stutzman regarding the proposed shift in U.S.-Israel relations.

Stutzman argues that this shift would not weaken the alliance but rather mature it. He envisions a relationship between the two powerful nations founded on mutual interests and independent statehood, rather than dependency on direct U.S. aid. The current memorandum of understanding, signed in 2016 under the Obama administration for a decade with a total value of $38 billion, is set to expire in 2028. Stutzman's proposal aims to proactively reshape this long-standing agreement.

According to Stutzman, Netanyahu conveyed that it is time for Israel to transition from being a recipient of aid to a partner nation. The Prime Minister reportedly highlighted Israel's economic transformation and growing autonomy, noting its population of approximately 10 million and a GDP nearing $1 trillion. Netanyahu emphasized that the relationship with the U.S. should be built on shared interests between two independent states moving forward together.

The goal is to move the relationship between two great allied nations, the United States and Israel, to a more mature level, based on trade and defense agreements, rather than dependence on direct American aid.

— Marlin StutzmanExplaining his proposal to the Jerusalem Post.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Watan in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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