President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop $4 billion in annual funding to Israel after this year but will still sell weapons to its close Middle East ally. In a surprise announcement as U.S. voters headed to the polls for midterm elections that will decide whether Trump’s Republicans will lose control of Congress, he cast the move as partly meant to take away a “bad talking point” he said left-leaning Democrats had used against Republicans over support for military assistance to Israel. Trump did not provide details or explain how the funding would be halted at the end of the year, given that the Memorandum of Understanding that provides $3.8 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel each year does not expire until September 2028.
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