US midterms: Not even Trump’s Israel aid stunt could rescue the Republicans

Donald Trump announced on US election day that the country would end its annual military aid to Israel, a move the article describes as an attempt to help Republicans facing difficult midterm races. The announcement did not prevent major Democratic gains, and the result suggests that support for Israel had become a political liability but was only one of several issues shaping voters’ choices.

The article cites an August Marquette poll in which 52 per cent of adults said the US gives Israel too much military aid, compared with 16 per cent who said it gives too little. It also notes that the $3.8bn annual package is part of a 10-year, $38bn agreement, while Brown University estimated US military aid to Israel at $21.7bn in the two years after 7 October 2023, alongside up to $12bn in regional military operations. The text argues that Trump’s announcement was widely doubted and could not by itself alter broader concerns about the economy, Iran, democracy, immigration and racism.