Dr. Raphael BenLevi on Ending U.S. Aid to Israel

May 1, 2026

Raphael Ben-Levy, a senior fellow and reserve IDF intelligence officer focused on national security and Zionist strategy, argues that recent US-Israel combat integration and regional shifts make traditional US grant aid outdated. He discusses operational interoperability, Israel’s growing strategic autonomy, how aid shapes policy, and what a mature, equal partnership without grant dependence might look like.

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INSIGHT

Aid Model Outlived Its Original Purpose

The original FMF aid model fit a small, cash-poor Israel taking territorial risks; that model no longer matches Israel's current economic and strategic realities.
Ben-Levy argues Israel's economy has grown sufficiently to finance purchases itself and should stop treating aid as default.

INSIGHT

Aid Creates Middle Ground Leverage Against Israel

Accepting US grants shapes the US–Israel power dynamic, creating dependence and perceived leverage that limits Israel's diplomatic freedom in the 'middle ground.'
Ben-Levy calls this a cultural and strategic cost that undermines Israel's image as self-reliant.

ANECDOTE

Historical Strikes Show Aid Didn't Always Bind Israel

Ben-Levy recounts the 1981 Osirak strike and 2007 Al-Kibar operation to show Israel sometimes acted without US approval while still receiving aid.
He notes Reagan delayed F-16 deliveries and Congress reviewed the strikes, illustrating conditional US reactions.

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In the spring of 2026, Israel and the United States conducted joint offensive military operations against Iran: coordinating targets, dividing airspace, and operating with a degree of integration that has no precedent in the history of the alliance. The operation significantly degraded Iran's military capabilities, and it marked what many analysts regard as a genuine turning point, not just in the regional balance of power, but in the nature of the American-Israeli relationship itself. For decades, that relationship had been structured as a powerful patron supporting a dependent client. What the Iran war suggested to some observers is that Israel has—at least in part—outgrown that structure.

That is the backdrop for a debate that is now live in both Jerusalem and Washington: what should American military aid to Israel look like when the current memorandum of understanding between the two countries expires in 2028? The U.S. currently provides Israel with approximately $3.5 billion annually in grants, earmarked for the purchase of American-made military equipment—an arrangement that dates to the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War and that has been renewed, and periodically enlarged, ever since. For most of that period, the case for the aid seemed self-evident. First the Arab states, and then Iran and its proxies, were actively threatening Israel's existence. American military and diplomatic support was an indispensable buttress of Israel's security. Whether that case remains self-evident today, in the wake of a war that has significantly diminished Iranian capabilities, is now a serious question being debated by Israelis and Americans of good faith, with thoughtful arguments on multiple sides.

In this episode, Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver speaks with a proud Israeli patriot who has been making the case for ending American aid for some time. Dr. Raphael BenLevi is a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, director of the Churchill Program for Statecraft and Security at the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem, a reserve officer in the IDF intelligence branch, and an occasional contributor to Mosaic. He recently published an essay in Foreign Affairs titled "America Should Be Israel 's Partner, Not Its Patron."

This week's episode of the Tikvah Podcast is generously sponsored by Steven Kleinman in memory of his mother, Estelle Fox. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode of the Tikvah Podcast, we invite you to join the Tikvah Ideas Circle. Visit tikvah.org/circle to learn more and join.