Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed backed President Donald Trump’s proposed cut of roughly $4 billion a year in U.S. military aid to Israel, NPR reported Wednesday, while calling for some U.S. weapons sales to stop.
Speaking with NPR after his election victory, El-Sayed said, “I think the president is actually right on this policy.” He also called for stopping sales of weaponry that he said gets used “to do the worst things, including genocide and apartheid, to Israel.”
Trump announced plans to end the aid by year-end, NPR reported. The president has not explained how he would put the proposed cut into effect, the outlet said. The existing U.S.-Israel aid arrangement provides $3.8 billion annually through 2028, NPR reported.
Israel policy divided the Senate campaign. El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers, a result covered in EconoTimes’ earlier report on his Michigan Senate victory. NPR reported that Haley Stevens backed Rogers shortly before the election, following a bitter disagreement over Israel with El-Sayed.
El-Sayed also challenged U.S. military assistance to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan, arguing that public funds should go to domestic needs, NPR reported.
