Netanyahu Defends His Decision to Publicly Address Dispute with the U.S. Over Arms Supply

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his decision to publicly disclose what he termed a delay by the U.S. in sending arms to Israel, claiming that months of private negotiations with officials in the Biden administration yielded no results. On Sunday, July 3, at the beginning of his cabinet meeting, Netanyahu stated, "After months of no change in the situation, I decided to speak out publicly. I did this based on years of experience and knew it was necessary to achieve results." Last Tuesday, he claimed in a video posted on social media that the U.S. government was withholding necessary arms from Israel. In the video, which was published in English, he said, "It is unimaginable that the U.S. government has suspended the delivery of weapons and ammunition to Israel over the past few months." He also added that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had assured him that the Biden administration was "working around the clock" to resolve this issue. In response to Netanyahu's statements, Blinken, during a press conference in Washington, refrained from explicitly confirming whether he had given such assurances to Israeli leaders but noted that the U.S. government was still reviewing a shipment of large bombs due to concerns about their use in populated areas. Amos Hochstein, Biden's advisor and envoy to the Middle East, reacted by stating that Netanyahu's remarks were "unconstructive" and "more importantly, completely incorrect." John Kirby, the White House National Security Advisor, also mentioned that the video was surprising for the White House. This was not the first time in the past eight months, during the ongoing war with the extremist group Hamas, that the Israeli Prime Minister publicly criticized the decisions and policies of the Democratic administration in the U.S. On Sunday, he further explained that about four months ago, there was a significant reduction in arms supplies from the U.S. to Israel, adding, "For four weeks, we asked our American friends to expedite the delivery of weapons. We raised this request repeatedly." He emphasized that he had requested arms from the U.S. government at various diplomatic levels, stating, "We received all kinds of explanations, but one thing we did not achieve: the fundamental situation did not change." He also expressed hope that this issue would be resolved in the "near future." Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister was traveling to Washington for talks with his American counterpart, stating that his discussions with U.S. officials during this trip were "decisive and vital for the future of the war." Yoav Gallant said at Tel Aviv airport before his departure that Israel's relationship with the U.S. had become "more important than ever." He mentioned that he would discuss developments regarding the Gaza war front and Israel's northern border with U.S. officials. Gallant added that Israel was "prepared for any action that may be needed in Gaza, Lebanon, and other areas." Israeli media reported that Gallant disagreed with Netanyahu's approach of leaking the issue of the dispute with the U.S. over the ammunition shipment.