World · Europe · 8 hrs ago
Rubio says US may stop financing Israeli arms purchases
Marco Rubio said the US may stop financing Israeli arms purchases while still allowing Israel to buy American weapons.
He made the comments after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris.
President Donald Trump believes Israel is wealthy enough to pay for its own weapons, Rubio said, adding that Israel had proposed moving to a sales-only arrangement.
The US and Israel are negotiating a new memorandum of understanding on military cooperation.
Rubio said the two sides could also consider producing some weapons together, since Israel makes arms of its own.
The change would shift the relationship away from US funding for purchases, though the countries have not announced a final agreement.
Rubio also defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he was doing a very good job, and raised concerns about AI’s potential security and economic harms.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States may stop financing Israel’s arms purchases.
He said President Donald Trump expects Israel to move to a sales-only model because it is now wealthy enough.
Rubio said Israel could continue buying weapons from the United States without US financing.
He said the two countries are negotiating a memorandum of understanding and could pursue joint production of some weapons.
Rubio said the sales-only approach was something Israel had proposed to the United States.
- Who
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed US arms financing for Israel.
- What
- The United States may stop financing Israeli arms purchases, with Israel instead buying weapons. Rubio said the countries are negotiating a memorandum of understanding.
- When
- 2026-11-10, the article publication date; the date of Rubio’s remarks is not stated.
- Where
- Paris, after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
- Why
- Rubio said President Donald Trump believes Israel is now wealthy enough to move to a sales-only model.
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- Speaker
- Marco Rubio
- US president
- Donald Trump
- Meeting location
- Paris
- Proposed approach
- Sales-only arms purchases, without US financing
- Negotiations
- The United States and Israel are negotiating a memorandum of understanding
What people are saying
Israel can buy weapons from us, but we no longer need to provide financing.
This is something the Israeli side itself proposed to us.