Israeli Lawmaker Demands Probe as Trump Moves to End Military Aid After 2026
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Simcha Rothman pushed for an investigation into possible Palestinian Authority interference in Israel’s election, while President Donald Trump announced Washington would end roughly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel after 2026, a move critics say exposes the political fragility of the entire arrangement.
Lawyer Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party told 103FM that a foreign state, identified as the Palestinian Authority, may have interfered in the recent Knesset election. He said a thorough investigation is needed to determine whether the alleged interference affected up to 500,000 votes and warned that fresh elections could be required if the findings warrant it, underscoring the volatility of Israel’s political system.
Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg announced that the official results will be published on Wednesday, rejecting attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition to delay the release. He noted that the committee lacks authority to postpone the announcement, which must occur eight days after the vote under Israel’s Basic Laws, and said any allegations of wrongdoing could be taken to the courts, where the dispute over democratic legitimacy may continue.
In a Fox News interview on Election Day, President Donald Trump said the United States will stop providing roughly $4 billion in annual military assistance to Israel after the end of 2026, claiming an agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu to phase out the funding. He added that the United States would still help Israel if needed, though he gave no details on the form of future support. Both Netanyahu’s office and Israel’s foreign ministry have not confirmed the announcement, and analysts note that the aid is appropriated by the U.S. Congress, making a unilateral termination unlikely despite Trump’s grandstanding.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the decision, calling it a severe political and security failure, and accused Netanyahu of capitulating to the plan. Another opposition figure, Yair Golan, warned that the financial burden would fall on Israeli citizens.
Meanwhile, five opposition party heads, including Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar Party, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Yair Golan and Avigdor Liberman, met in Herzliya and agreed to coordinate efforts to replace the Netanyahu-led government with a national emergency coalition. Eisenkot’s bloc secured 48 seats in the 120-member Knesset, falling short of a majority.
"They are trying to drag us all into a dangerous constitutional crisis," Eisenkot wrote on X, accusing Netanyahu and Likud of undermining public trust in the election results.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned the United States to prevent a renewed conflict after recent defensive strikes in the Strait of Hormuz.