Scoop: Israel seeks 20-year military aid deal with U.S. with "America First" tweaks
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Trump with Netanyahu before departing Israel in October. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Israel is seeking a new 20-year security agreement with the U.S. — doubling the usual term and adding "America First" provisions to win the Trump administration's support, Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: While the past agreement promised Israel around $4 billion per year in military aid, and Israel is likely to seek at least that much going forward, passing such a deal will now be more complicated because of growing frustrations with Israel, including within Trump's MAGA base.
State of play: The current 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in 2016 under Barack Obama, expires in 2028. Israel wants to conclude the new deal over the next year.
- The negotiations are both technically and politically complicated, given MAGA's opposition to foreign aid and bipartisan concerns over Israel's conduct in Gaza.
Breaking it down: There have been three 10-year framework agreements for long-term security assistance to Israel, in 1998 ($21.3 billion), 2008 ($32 billion) and 2016 ($38 billion).
- In 2024, during the war in Gaza, Congress and the Biden administration approved a multibillion-dollar emergency military assistance package for Israel, on top of the 10-year MOU.
- Israeli officials hope the next package will include even more in annual assistance, but are concerned the negotiations will be more difficult after the Trump administration's broad cuts to foreign aid.
Flashback: President Trump referred to U.S. military assistance to Israel during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last April.
- "We give Israel $4 billion a year. That's a lot. Congratulations, by the way. That's pretty good. But we give Israel billions of dollars a year, billions."
Behind the scenes: The negotiations over the new security MOU were delayed for some time due to the war in Gaza, but initial discussions began in recent weeks, according to two Israeli officials and one U.S. official.
- During these discussions, the Israeli side floated two ideas for changes in the new security agreement.
- The first proposal was extending the agreement from 10 to 20 years, which would make it broader in scope and take the agreement through Israel's 100-year anniversary of independence in 2048.
- The second change the Israelis proposed was to use some of the money for joint U.S.-Israeli research and development, rather than direct military aid. That could be in the fields of defense tech, defense-related AI, and the Golden Dome missile defense project, an Israeli official said.
Between the lines: That format is designed to appeal to the Trump administration's "America First" instincts, because it could benefit the U.S. military rather than just being sent to Israel.
- "This is out-of-the-box thinking. We want to change the way we handled past agreements and put more emphasis on U.S.-Israel cooperation. The Americans like this idea," one Israeli official said.
- The White House declined to comment.
