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Netanyahu tells 60 Minutes ‘it’s time’ for Israel to ‘draw down to zero American financial support’

May 11, 2026 | | Print Article

Where it concerns financial support from the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his plan made the “jaws drop” of Israeli lawmakers and President Donald Trump alike.

Much as polling marks dissatisfaction from the American public, the longer military action continues in the Middle East, Netanyahu faces his own favorability issues, particularly surrounding his counteroffensive to the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack.

With that in mind, he proposed a new path of support that could win back many tired of funding foreign wars through plans to “draw down to zero… the financial component of the military operation…”

During a lengthy interview with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett that was edited for time during broadcast on “60 Minutes,” the prime minister was asked, “Do you believe it’s time for the state of Israel to reexamine and possibly reset its financial relationship with the United States, meaning what the United States provides to Israel on an annual basis?”

“Absolutely,” he replied, making note of the “jaw drop” from those he’s shared the intent with before continuing, “I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have, because we receive $3.8 billion per year. And I think that it’s time we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.”

While the broadcast featured the prime minister then responding to Garrett’s question about a timetable by saying, “Let’s start now and do it over the next decade,” Netanyahu had more to say regarding relations with American and Arab friends.

“So I want to draw down, and then I want to suggest projects, joint projects for intel, for weapons, for missile defense,” he went on in the extended version of the interview. “Israel, I think, has, you know, is a leader in this in the world. Many countries come to us for it. I’d like to share it with the United States. We put an exact amount of money. You put the same. We share the fruits exactly.”

“Now, I’m not just speaking here, because I did this,” he said, referencing actions taken on Israel’s economy, he aimed to replicate in defense.

The entire exchange occurred following comments on the decline in public perception of Israel. During the “60 Minutes” segment, Garrett’s narration cited a survey from the Pew Research Center wherein a 20-point uptick over four years amounted to 60% of American adults holding an unfavorable view of the Jewish state.

The prime minister faulted social media.

“We have seen the deterioration of the support for Israel in the United States almost — I would say, it correlates almost 100% with the geometric rise of social media. And that by itself is not what caused it. And I — I don’t believe in, you know, in censoring them or anything,” said Netanyahu. “But I’ll tell you what happened. We have several countries that basically manipulated social media. And they do it in a clever way. And that’s — that’s something that has hurt us badly.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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