Netanyahu Rips Biden: 'Inconceivable' That US Weapons Were Ever Halted
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Biden administration of withholding weapons transfers to Israel, in violation of stated promises that Washington would remove all restrictions on arms deliveries.
Netanyahu revealed this during a video address discussing meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken days ago during his trip to Israel. Netanyahu further addressed international media reports on the US throttling weapons deliveries as punishment for mass civilian atrocities and alleged war crimes in Gaza.
"When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel," began the Israeli leader in an English-language video, "we had a candid conversation, I said I deeply appreciated the support the US 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," he continued, publicly airing his obvious frustration with President Biden.
"Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks," he added. "I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case."
Netanyahu further advanced an argument recently used by Ukraine's Zelensky. He said Israel must urgently be provided with more and more American weapons as only then could the war could be brought to a more rapid close.
"During World War II, [UK leader Winston] Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job,'" said Netanyahu. "And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster."
Meanwhile, despite reports that US has slowed its deliveries, more major arms packages for Israel are making their way through Congress, as The Washington Post reports:
Two key Democratic holdouts in the House and Senate signed off on a major arms sale to Israel, including 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18 billion, after facing intense pressure from the Biden administration and pro-Israel advocates to allow the transaction to move forward, said three U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, who importantly is the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been among those hold-outs who earlier demanded assurances from President Biden that Israel won't use US weapons to commit war crimes or civilian killings.
"I don’t want the kinds of weapons that Israel has to be utilized to have more deaths," Meeks said in April. "I want to make sure that humanitarian aid gets in. I don’t want people starving to death, and I want Hamas to release the hostages. And I want a two-state solution."
BREAKING!
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 18, 2024
As expected, Netanyahu inevitably knifes Biden in the back. Republicans will cite this video extensively to hurt Biden.
Biden set himself up for this. He gave blind support to Netanyahu despite knowing Bibi would betray him.
Biden only has himself to blame... pic.twitter.com/3E3AYMYYKN
One of the arguments made by proponents of new arms deals with Israel is that more advanced, sophisticated weaponry makes for better targeting and thus reduces the likelihood of mass civilian deaths.