Trump seeks to end US military aid to Israel soon, says Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that President Donald Trump believes Israel is now "prosperous and wealthy enough" to purchase American weapons without depending on military aid, adding that Trump wants this arrangement to take effect "as soon as possible."

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris, Rubio explained that Trump "wants to end the funding component as soon as possible," adding, "We are working on this as part of the memorandum of understanding negotiations."

He continued: "The president's expectation is that Israel has become prosperous and wealthy enough to be a purchasing country, able to buy weapons from us, but we no longer need to provide funding."

Rubio confirmed that Israel could "certainly" do without the aid by the end of the year if it chooses, noting that the memorandum of understanding will also include the possibility of joint production of some weapons, as Israel manufactures arms, and that "the timeline will be subject to negotiation."

Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to end Israel's reliance on US aid within a decade, while Trump said last week that there is an agreement to halt aid by the end of the year—a statement that surprised senior officials in both countries.