US ‘deeply disappointed’ by Israeli PM Netanyahu’s arms looting claim
In a rare detail of what is typically a private diplomatic conversation, Netanyahu also said he told Blinken it was “unthinkable” that Washington had been blocking arms and ammunition to Israel over the past few months.
The White House on Thursday expressed deep disappointment over criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid tensions between the two allies over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The White House’s response came as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held a meeting with two of Netanyahu’s top aides to discuss the Gaza conflict and other issues. Similar talks were also expected between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Israelis.
Netanyahu released an English-language video on Tuesday in which he said Blinken assured him that the Biden administration was working to lift a ban on arms supplies to Israel, which the top US diplomat declined to confirm.
In a rare detail of what is typically a private diplomatic conversation, Netanyahu also said he told Blinken it was “unthinkable” that Washington had been blocking arms and ammunition to Israel over the past few months.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby commented on these remarks in a briefing with reporters, saying that the US has expressed its displeasure directly to Israel.
“I think we’ve made it clear to our Israeli counterparts through a variety of channels that we’re deeply disappointed in the statements that were made in that video and expressed our concerns about the accuracy of those statements,” Kirby said.
“The idea that we have somehow stopped helping Israel with their self-defense needs is simply not true,” he said.
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer spoke with Sullivan as a larger, more formal “strategic dialogue” meeting was being rescheduled, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Blinken said the weapons shipments — except for the one containing larger bombs — were proceeding as usual, as Israel faces security threats beyond Gaza, including from Hezbollah and Iran. He declined to comment on his private exchange with Netanyahu during a news conference on Tuesday.
“There is a shipment of high payload weapons that we have placed under review and that remains under review. This is not a constraint. This is a policy review,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The United States blocked a shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs in May because of concerns about the impact they might have on densely populated areas, but Israel has yet to receive billions of dollars worth of American weapons.
Scrutiny has increased over the conduct of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, as the war’s Palestinian death toll rises to more than 37,000 and Gaza turns into a wasteland, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.
The war began when Palestinian Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage, Israeli figures show.
In April, Biden warned Israel that the US would stop supplying arms to Israel if Israeli forces launched a major offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a last refuge for many displaced by the war.
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