America just agreed to stop funding Israel and Netanyahu has gone quiet

Donald Trump just said America is going to stop paying Israel $4 billion a year.

And he says he already agreed it with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, months ago.

So when does it stop? End of this year.

Trump said it this morning on Fox News' Fox and Friends. Al Jazeera reports he spoke right after voting opened in America's midterm elections.

Trump says quote "we made a deal months ago that we're stopping".

He's also saying the help doesn't disappear completely. Now we'll help Israel if they need it, he said.

So read that carefully. This isn't a total cut-off. The regular $4 billion payment ends. But America is still saying it'll step in if Israel actually needs help.

Why is Trump doing this? Two reasons, in his own words.

First, he says Israel doesn't need the money any more. Second, he says Democrats and left-wing politicians have been using that payment as a political weapon against Republicans.

On the money, Trump said Israel doesn't need it, and that Israel and Europe can just buy American weapons directly, because America makes the best weapons in the world.

But here's the part that doesn't quite add up yet.

Nobody actually knows which funding he means. Reuters reports it wasn't immediately clear what programme Trump was describing. His number, $4 billion, doesn't match the $3.8 billion a year that's already promised under the existing agreement between the two countries. That agreement doesn't run out until 2028.

So Trump's announcement would move that change forward by about two years, if it happens the way he's describing it.

And talks have reportedly been going on for a while already about what US support to Israel looks like once that 2028 deal ends.

Now here's the thing. Netanyahu has basically been saying this himself for months.