特朗普要断军援，共和党败选怪以色列

US military aid to Israel may stop by the end of this year.

The person who said this was Trump, in a television interview on election day itself.

He said Israel is doing very well now, and continuing to give money is politically "hard to justify."

He was referring to roughly four billion dollars a year in military aid.

That number is not small, but what is more surprising is when he said it.

On the very same day, the Republicans lost in the midterm elections.

The Democrats took both the Senate and the House, and Washington's landscape changed overnight.

The next day, Vice President Vance came out to explain the defeat.

He attributed the cause to the war in Iran and to America's relationship with Israel.

In his post-election analysis, the first point was "end this war."

Another point was written even more directly: change our relationship with Israel.

In the same election, Michigan's El-Sayed won a key race.

He has consistently criticized US military aid to Israel.

He also accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, which Israel denies.

It is worth noting that an important pro-Israel lobbying group in the US changed its approach before the election.

It announced it would no longer endorse specific candidates and would no longer directly donate to campaigns.

But it still plans to keep spending through its own super PAC.

In Michigan's Democratic primary, it spent more than thirty million dollars opposing El-Sayed.

On the Israeli side, Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority before the election.

He has in fact long advocated gradually phasing out American aid over ten years.

Israeli diplomats say privately that he and his coalition have "become poison in America."

The current aid package was signed ten years ago, at nearly four billion dollars a year.

The package expires in 2028, and Trump's statement surprised Israeli officials.

If the aid really stops, Israel will be short seventy billion dollars over the next two years.

Trump's suggestion is that Israel can pay for it itself and keep buying American weapons.

Some of the weapons Israel has already ordered will not be delivered until after 2028.

For these weapons alone, Israel will have to pay another ten billion dollars.

Once military aid stops, Israel will also lose diplomatic protection.

The US frequently uses its veto at the Security Council to block resolutions targeting Israel.

This kind of protection is not something Israel can buy with its own money.

Just recently, Britain announced sanctions over settler violence in the West Bank.

Israel's reliable friends in the international community are growing fewer.

Moreover, the relationship between the two countries has never been just about money.

The US military has radar stations and intelligence facilities in Israel.

Recently, the US military also expanded an air base in the Negev in the south.

The two sides share intelligence and satellite data, and Israel still has friends in Congress.

So military aid can be stopped with a single sentence, but these forms of cooperation will not disappear along with it.