Israeli Official Accuses US Of 'Slow-Walking' Arms & Ammo Deliveries
An Israeli official has told ABC News that the pace of military aid from Washington to Israel has noticeably slowed, but stopped just short of accusing the Biden administration of intentionally throttling weapons deliveries, though the implication is there.
The unnamed senior Israeli official described that in the weeks and initial months following the Oct.7 Hamas terror attack supply shipments from the United States "were coming very fast" but that now "we are now finding that it’s very slow."
The official specified that after more than five months of the major Gaza offensive, the Israeli military is running out of 155 mm artillery shells and 120 mm tank shells.
The vast bulk of Israel's arsenal has long been US-made and supplied, and the Jewish state has for decades been the single largest US foreign aid recipient, though much of these billions go straight back into the pockets of major American defense firms.
But the official said it's as yet unclear what is causing the weapons delivery slowdown. The word choice in the original ABC report strongly suggests the decision is intentional and could be in response to the soaring Palestinian death toll and ongoing humanitarian disaster:
A senior Israeli official says the United States has begun slow-walking some military aid to Israel -- an assertion senior U.S. officials denied was the case, in what's perhaps more evidence that the relationship between the two allies is growing increasingly strained.
Famine looms and the IDF is poised for a ground assault on the refugee-packed southern city of Rafah. Gaza's health ministry has cited well over 30,000 deaths. Israel says the majority of those killed includes Hamas and that the numbers are inflated, while the Palestinian side says the overwhelming majority of deaths are civilians, especially women and children.
Biden admin officials have rejected that the US is slow-walking defense aid, per ABC:
When asked about the allegation, several U.S. officials said there was no change in U.S. policy or any deliberate delay in delivering previously promised aid or weapons sales to Israel.
Under a 10-year agreement negotiated by then-President Barack Obama, the U.S. provides about $3.8 billion in military and missile defense systems every year.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said when asked about the issue, "I’m not gonna get into the timeline for every individual system that’s being provided." He added: "We continue to support Israel with their self-defense needs. That’s not going to change, and we have been very, very direct about that."
Some recent reports have said the opposite - that the White House is actually mulling increased arms and ammo deliveries while simultaneously ramping up pressure on Israel to more carefully select targets and mitigate the humanitarian fallout.
Things shifted in US-Israel relations when last week Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that the Jewish state risks becoming a "pariah" because of him. President Biden later said it was a "good speech" in yet another firm signal of strained and fraying relations.