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Vivek Ramaswamy says US should not give Israel more aid than to others in the Middle East
(JTA) — Vivek Ramaswamy, a long-shot contender for the Republican presidential nomination, said in an interview that the United States should reduce its aid to Israel.
In an interview on Rumble, a platform popular with far-right viewers, Ramaswamy said Israel should not get more aid than its Middle Eastern neighbors after 2028, the year that the current U.S. aid package of $38 billion expires.
He said that he would expand the Abraham Accords, the normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries. After Israel is “more integrated” with its neighboring countries, Ramaswamy said, Israel should be able to stand “on its own two feet” financially.
“Come 2028, that additional aid won’t be necessary in order to still have the kind of stability that we’d actually have in the Middle East by having Israel more integrated in with its partners,” he said.
The policy point separates Ramaswamy from his two main rivals vying for the nomination — Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, who are staunch supporters of Israel and its military. But it puts him line with a growing number of voices from across the ideological spectrum who say Israel should no longer get as much from the United States as it has.
Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur and investor, appeared on comedian-turned-podcaster Russell Brand’s video show on Rumble. The comments on aid to Israel were a response to a viewer question.
He argued that Israel should not receive preferential treatment from the United States, even though “our relationship with Israel has advanced American interests” over time. “There’s no North Star commitment to any one country, other than the United States of America,” Ramaswamy said.
Ramaswamy’s popularity is on the rise and he is now close behind DeSantis in national polls. A Fox News survey published Wednesday found 11% of respondents support him, compared to 16% for DeSantis and 53% for Trump.
Ramaswamy mentioned Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Indonesia as countries he would target as Abraham Accords partners; while Saudi Arabia is deep in negotiations with Israel and the United States about a possible Israel treaty, Oman recently criminalized relations of any kind with Israel. Indonesia is also noted for its high levels of antisemitism — FIFA, the world soccer body, this year moved its under-20 World Cup from Indonesia to Argentina after the Southeast Asian nation protested Israel’s inclusion in the event.
U.S. aid to Israel has become more of a campaign issue over the past two presidential contests. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, prominent Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought up the idea of conditioning at least some aid over Israel’s policies, particularly those involving the Palestinians.
In May, Rep. Betsy McCollum, a longtime critic of Israel policy, re-introduced a bill that would condition U.S. aid to Israel. Sixteen progressive House representatives co-sponsored the bill, including other prominent Israel critics such as Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal.
More recently, centrists and people on the right have joined in openly considering reducing aid to Israel, though for different reasons. Last month, New York Times columnist Nick Kristof floated ending aid to Israel entirely.
Ramaswamy — who had before his campaign been a leading defender of Donald Trump in his ongoing indictment crises — has also indicated he would pull back funding and military support for other allies, including Ukraine and Taiwan.
He told Jewish Insider in June that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had allowed Jews and other minorities to be mistreated during the country’s war with Russia. Zelensky himself is Jewish.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.