Israel is preparing for talks with the Trump administration on a new 10-year security agreement, seeking to extend U.S. military support while planning for a future with reduced American cash grants, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Gil Pinchas, who recently stepped down as chief financial adviser to Israel’s Defense Ministry and military, told the Financial Times that Israel would seek to prioritize joint military and defense projects over direct financial assistance. He said talks are expected to take place in the coming weeks.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
“The partnership is more important than just the net financial issue in this context,” Pinchas told the Financial Times. “There are a lot of things that are equal to money. The view of this needs to be wider.”
Pinchas said direct financial support, about 3.3 billion dollars a year that Israel can use to purchase US weapons, was “one component of the memorandum of understanding that could decrease gradually.”
In 2016, the United States and Israel signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding running through September 2028, providing 38 billion dollars in military aid. That includes 33 billion dollars in grants for military equipment purchases and 5 billion dollars for missile defense systems.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to gradually reduce Israel’s dependence on US military aid over the next decade.