Donald Trump unexpectedly announced on Tuesday that he would end $3.8 billion in annual aid to Israel, on the day of the US midterm elections, where the issue of support for Israel is being debated.

"We give Israel $4 billion a year, and we reached an agreement months ago that we would stop," the US president explained during a telephone interview on Fox News.

He asserted that outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "in agreement".

"Israel is a very prosperous country. They don't need it," the Republican billionaire continued, before adding: "We will help Israel if they need it."

Mr. Trump's announcement comes on the day of the midterm elections in the United States, crucial for the last two years of his presidency, and as legislative elections have just been held in Israel.

Neither the bloc of Benjamin Netanyahu, which had received strong support from Donald Trump, nor that of his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, obtained a majority in this election.

Gadi Eisenkot said on Tuesday that this announcement by the American president showed that Benjamin Netanyahu had to "go".

"The fact that the Israeli defense establishment learned of this change in our strategic relations through the media, at the same time as the Israeli public, shows how dangerous Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct is. He can no longer be trusted and must be replaced," Eisenkot said in a statement on X.

This American assistance to Israel's security amounts to $38 billion over ten years, including $33 billion in funding for the purchase of weapons and $5 billion for missile defense.

US security assistance to Israel began in 2019, and was signed three years earlier by Donald Trump's predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.

Benjamin Netanyahu has, in the past, expressed his desire to end Israel's dependence on financial support from its American ally.

In May, he told the American network CBS that he intended to reduce this support to "zero".

The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, is a source of deep divisions in the United States.

It was not immediately clear when this aid to Israel would actually end or be restructured, nor what the reaction of Congress would be.

Mr. Trump's announcement also comes amid a conflict with Iran, with the US president confirming on Tuesday that the US military had carried out new strikes there.

Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat and researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said on Tuesday on X that Israel should still "get everything it wants or needs, or even more" while, according to him, "the United States and Israel seem to be heading towards a major conflict and a resumption of war with Iran."

- El-Sayed in the crosshairs -

The Republican leader's remarks come as Americans have begun voting in elections that resemble a referendum for Donald Trump, amid discontent over the rising cost of living and the war in the Middle East, more than eight months after it began with an Israeli-American attack on Iran.

When announcing the elimination of aid to Israel, Mr. Trump clearly had this in mind.

When asked by Fox News why he was making the announcement, he replied: "Why should we have to put up with attacks from fools like this El-Sayed when they (Israel) don't need them? It sends a very bad message."

A reference to Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate in Michigan opposing Republican Mike Rogers, who could become the first Muslim senator in the United States.

The debate surrounding support for Israel, which is dividing both Democrats and Republicans, is raging in this industrial state in the northern United States, home to a large Muslim community. Mr. El-Sayed has been heavily criticized for his pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel positions.

It was this debate on Israel that led to the unexpected endorsement on Sunday of Haley Stevens, Mr. El-Sayed's unsuccessful opponent in the Democratic primary, by the Republican candidate.