In an interview aired Sunday on 60 Minutes, Netanyahu said he intended to reduce the financial component of U.S.-Israeli military cooperation to zero over time, arguing that Israel should begin preparing for a new framework in bilateral defense relations.
“I want to draw down to zero the American financial support, the financial component of the military cooperation that we have,” Netanyahu told CBS.

Israel currently receives approximately $3.8 billion annually in U.S. military assistance under a decade-long agreement signed in 2016 covering the period from 2018 through 2028.

Netanyahu said it was “absolutely” the right moment to reconsider the structure of the alliance, adding that he did not want to wait for future congressional negotiations before initiating changes.

The remarks come at a time of growing political debate in the United States over support for Israel following the Gaza war and the widening regional conflict involving Iran.

Recent polling by the Pew Research Center found rising unfavorable views of Israel among Americans, with public confidence in Netanyahu declining sharply compared with the previous year.

Netanyahu attributed the erosion in support largely to the influence of social media, claiming foreign actors had manipulated online platforms in ways that damaged Israel’s international standing.

While declining to identify specific countries, he said several states had used social media campaigns to influence public perceptions during the conflict.

The Israeli leader also acknowledged that Israeli planners initially underestimated Iran’s ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil transit route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supplies normally pass.

The conflict with Iran, which escalated after joint U.S.-Israeli military action earlier this year, contributed to a surge in global oil prices and renewed inflationary pressure in the United States.

“It took a while for them to understand how big that risk is, which they understand now,” Netanyahu said regarding the strategic implications of potential Iranian interference in the waterway.

Asked about the possibility of regime change in Iran, Netanyahu said weakening Tehran’s leadership could dismantle the regional network of armed groups aligned with the Iranian government, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen.

“If this regime is indeed weakened or possibly toppled, I think it’s the end of Hezbollah, it’s the end of Hamas, it’s probably the end of the Houthis,” Netanyahu said.
However, he stopped short of predicting such an outcome, saying leadership change in Iran was “possible” but “not guaranteed.”