Netanyahu says Israel should 'break free' of US military aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called again for his country to increase its military autonomy and reduce its reliance on support from the United States, according to a statement released on Tuesday by his office.

“I deeply appreciate the support we have received from our American friends, but we need to break free from dependency and build our own independent armaments network,” the premier told reserve officers on a training course in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu was speaking on June 18, a day after the US and Iran agreed an initial deal to end the Middle East war, which has been fiercely opposed in Israel.

“Today I say: We need our own independent armaments network. We must manufacture our own armaments,” Netanyahu said.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has received more than $300 billion, in US economic and military assistance, according to figures from the Council on Foreign Relations, far more than any other country has received since 1946.

Under an agreement signed in 2016 and in force since 2019, it receives financial assistance for the purchase of around $3.8 billion of weapons a year, accounting for around 15 percent of the defence budget. That deal runs until 2028.

The Israeli premier has previously said he wanted to end Israel’s reliance on US support.

In January he told The Economist that he hoped to do so within a decade, while in May he told US broadcaster CBS that he wanted support to reach “zero”.

Washington is Israel’s closest ally, but the two have clashed over the conduct of Israel’s wars since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.

US President Donald Trump has been publicly critical of Netanyahu in recent weeks as Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon threatened peace talks with Iran.