US Aid Cut to $3.8bn: How Midterm Losses Hit Israeli PM Race
Opposition leaders argue the Republican defeat in the United States has made Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim to power politically fragile.
By Jabari Long ·
Israeli voters will soon decide which political bloc controls the government, but the outcome is increasingly tied to events in Washington. The United States recently ended a $3.8 billion annual military aid package to Israel. This financial shift follows a poor performance by President Donald Trump's Republican Party in the US midterm elections.
The change in US funding directly affects the Israeli defense budget. Currently, the budget stands at 7 percent of GDP. Analysts expect that figure to rise to compensate for the lost American money. Ahron Bregman, a senior teaching fellow at King's College London, stated that Israelis will feel the financial pressure in their daily lives.
Bregman argued that the nation cannot maintain its current regional policy while expecting foreign financial support to remain constant. He noted that Netanyahu is attempting to divide the population further by suggesting that Arab citizens stole the recent elections. This move aims to prevent the opposition from forming a coalition with Arab-led parties.
The opposition bloc is capitalizing on this division. Yair Lapid, a former prime minister, posted on social media that US voters dislike Israel's extremist ministers and settler violence. He claimed that for many Americans, anything connected to Netanyahu is toxic. Avigdor Lieberman, another opposition leader, asserted that Trump traded his endorsement of Netanyahu for the end of the military aid.
Parliamentary math is now central to the power struggle. The October 27 election left Netanyahu's right-wing bloc with 53 seats. They need 61 seats to form a government. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot holds 48 seats. Two Arab-led parties, Ra’am and the Joint List, hold the remaining 19 seats.
Both Arab-led parties have declared they will support Eisenkot for prime minister. They will provide outside support rather than joining a unity government. Eisenkot’s bloc has previously ruled out serving alongside these parties, but their backing from outside the cabinet strengthens his position. President Isaac Herzog has not yet nominated a candidate to form the next government.
Netanyahu’s position weakened further on Thursday. United Torah Judaism, his longtime ultra-Orthodox ally, declined to recommend him for the role. This is the first time since 2009 that the party has not recommended a specific candidate. This apparent defection removes a key pillar of support for the current prime minister.
Shibley Telhami, director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, noted that US public opinion remains negative regardless of who leads Israel. A Pew Research Center poll from April showed that Americans view Israel and Netanyahu with similar disapproval. Telhami said that most Americans would not change their views even if a new government takes office.
