Netanyahu reveals explosive final exchange with Lindsey Graham before US Senator's 'sudden' death at 71

By EMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:03, 12 July 2026 | Updated: 22:30, 12 July 2026 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed his final conversation with Lindsey Graham before the US Senator's 'sudden' death at the age of 71.  While on Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu said that Graham disagreed when he suggested ending US military aid to Israel.  '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,' Netanyahu recalled.  The senator was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Israel, and he advised the president on foreign policy matters pertaining to Russia and Iran. He died on Saturday evening in Washington DC after succumbing to a 'brief and sudden illness.'  The politician had just returned home from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  Despite the prime minister telling Graham that Israel had 'come of age' with a 'robust economy, the senator's opinion did not change.  '[I told him] we can take care of our own — financing our own weapons for the defense of Israel and defense of our common interests with America, so I’m going to phase out… the military support for Israel over a period of years and bring it down to zero. We can do it,' Netanyahu said.  While on Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu said that Graham disagreed when he suggested ending US military aid to Israel He died on Saturday evening at the age of 71 in Washington DC after succombing to a 'brief and sudden illness'  His comment comes just hours after President Donald Trump shared that he spoke to Graham just hours before he died.  He recalled Graham being 'like a member of the family to him,' and that the two of them had spoken over the phone on Saturday night, just hours before he died. Trump also revealed that Graham called him to discuss the passage of the SAVE America Act, which Graham co-sponsored in the US Senate. 'He actually said he was tired, but he wanted to pass the SAVE America Act, and I said, |Well, we’re going to get it done, Lindsey. We’re going to get it done. I’ll see you, like, soon",' Trump noted on Meet the Press. The SAVE America Act has been passed by the US House of Representatives three times, but has not been passed by the Senate, where it needs 60 votes due to the filibuster. The office of Graham, who has represented South Carolina since 2002, announced in the early hours of Sunday that the senator had passed away.  Trump had earlier shared a tribute to the late Senator on Truth Social shortly after the announcement was made. 'Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The senator (pictured next to Netanyahu) was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Israel, and he advised the president on foreign policy matters pertaining to Russia and Iran Graham was one of Trump's closest allies in the US Senate, consistently voting to enact the president's agenda.  In late March 2025, just a little more than a month after Trump took office, the president posted a lengthy endorsement of Graham, referring to the senator as 'a wonderful friend.' The president ordered that American flags be lowered at half-staff at the White House on Sunday morning to honor the late senator.  He also joined several news networks, including NBC News and CNN, where he spoke about his love for Graham.  Graham was one of Trump's closest allies in the US Senate, consistently voting to enact the president's agenda When asked by CNN's Jake Tapper if he wanted to say anything about the late Republican, Trump said: 'No, I think his finest moment was his defense of Brett Kavanaugh, who's a terrific guy, and was treated very, very unfairly by the Democrats. Very - I've never seen anything like it,' Trump replied, speaking of the US Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. 'He was treated so unfairly, and Lindsey, as you remember, had that moment. I think it was the top 10, maybe the top five moments in the history of the senate. It was an incredible display, and he did it from the heart,' he added. Trump's comment refers to when Graham fiercley defended Kavanaugh against sexual assault allegations during the 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The senator blasted the hearing as the 'most unethical sham' he ever witnessed in politics, and said that Kavanaugh had 'nothing to apologize for' before urging Republicans to support the judge.