Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday recounted what he said was his “last conversation” with Lindsey Graham, the notoriously hawkish South Carolina senator who died on Saturday night due to a “brief and sudden illness,” according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu said during an appearance on Fox News that the two discussed the Israeli prime minister’s idea to reduce US military aid over a number of years as part of a plan to further merge the US and Israeli militaries. Netanyahu claimed Graham opposed the idea of eventually ending US military aid.
“[He] went ballistic,” Netanyahu said. “He said, ‘No way you can’t do that!’ Because he was so concerned with our security, which he believed was your [America’s] security, that he actually fought the prime minister of Israel on keeping America’s aid or actually increasing it, and that tells you what kind of a person this extraordinary, extraordinary friend was.”
Despite Netanyahu’s claim, Graham was on the record publicly supporting the idea and said it should be done more quickly than the 10-year timeline the Israeli leader suggested. “I will always appreciate allies who are trying to be more self-sufficient and believe that, given what the Prime Minister said, we need not wait ten years,” Graham wrote on X in January 2026.
“The billions in taxpayer dollars that would be saved by expediting the termination of military aid to Israel will and should be plowed back into the US military, which is the best in the world and in great demand,” Graham added. Netanyahu and Graham spoke at least twice since the post, as Graham visited Israel later that month and spoke with the Israeli leader by phone in March 2026.
During his appearance on Fox, Netanyahu was asked about his plan to merge the US and Israeli militaries, which is being advanced by members of Congress via an amendment to the House version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would integrate the two militaries without reducing US military aid.
“I’m calling it, ‘From aid to partnership,'” Netanyahu said. “I think the meshing of our two great countries of talent would strengthen America’s competitive position.”
Many other Israeli officials mourned Graham on Sunday, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, known for his role overseeing Israel’s notorious torture prisons and his support for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, the expansion of settlements into Gaza and Lebanon, and his role in establishing the death penalty only for Palestinians.
“Today, Israel has lost one of its greatest friends,” Ben Gvir wrote on X. “Senator Lindsey Graham stood with Israel not because it was easy, but because he believed it was right. His unwavering support, courage, and moral clarity earned him the admiration of millions of Israelis.”
Graham was a strong backer of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and several times called for Israel to “flatten” the Palestinian territory like the US and its allies did to Japanese and German cities during World War II, hinting that Israel should be able to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza. He was also a major supporter of the US-Israeli war against Iran and was seen as a key figure in influencing President Trump’s decisions on the war.
