Biden administration cancels meeting with Israeli officials on Iran, delivers scathing criticism after Netanyahu publicly rips White House for withholding military aid during wartime.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
The Biden administration cancelled a high-level meeting planned between U.S. and Israeli officials on Iran this week, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the White House of withholding American military aid during the ongoing war with Hamas.
In a rare open criticism of the White House, Netanyahu released a video statement Tuesday, disclosing details of his conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during Blinken’s recent visit to Israel.
Netanyahu said the two had a “candid” conversation regarding the ongoing war and disagreements between Jerusalem and Washington, adding that he had expressed his frustrations with the Biden administration’s decision to hold back military aid to Israel.
“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation,” Netanyahu said. “I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war.”
“But I also said something else. I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.”
“Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.”
“During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”
The statement was published during a visit to Israel by American envoy Amos Hochstein.
According to a report by Axios Tuesday night, within hours of the video’s publication, Hochstein personally delivered a scathing rebuke to Netanyahu, two American and Israeli sources said.
“The Americans are fuming,” the Israeli official cited in the report said.
Two American officials said that in response to the video, the Biden administration cancelled a planned meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials, slated for Thursday, regarding Iran.
“This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts,” one American official said.
Publicly, the Biden administration expressed surprise at Netanyahu’s video statement.
“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
In May, details emerged regarding planned munitions sales to Israel, slated for late April which had been frozen by the Biden administration.
The Biden administration later confirmed that some smart bomb shipments had been halted, due in part to the White House’s disagreements with Israel’s handling of the war and American opposition to the Rafah operation, but emphasized that other arms transfers were continuing without interruption.
Content retrieved from: https://worldisraelnews.com/white-house-enraged-after-netanyahu-publicly-slams-biden-for-withholding-arms/.