Benjamin Netanyahu claims Washington hasn’t changed its stance despite appeals at all levels
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the US has significantly reduced the amount of weapons being delivered to Israel during the war in Gaza.
Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu claimed there has been a “dramatic drop” in US weapons supplies. He added that Israel decided to go public with the issue after failing to resolve it behind closed doors.
“For many weeks we turned to our American friends with a request to speed up the shipments,” Netanyahu stated. “We did this at the senior echelons, and at all levels, and I want to emphasize – we did it in private chambers.”
In a video address last week, Netanyahu accused the White House of “withholding weapons,” claiming that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had assured him that the administration “is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks.”
Media reports at the time claimed that Washington had canceled a high-level US-Israel meeting shortly after West Jerusalem released the video. A US official told Axios that the move “makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts.” Other officials said the meeting had been postponed due to a scheduling issue, rather than canceled.
Blinken had earlier confirmed a temporary halt on a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, citing concerns about their use in densely populated areas such as Rafah. However, he insisted that the White House is committed to ensuring that “that Israel has what it needs to effectively defend itself.”
Israel’s war with Hamas and the siege of Gaza have drawn widespread international criticism, including threats of sanctions. The Israeli government has recently experienced a steady decline in Western support due to the mounting death toll and deepening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.