White House Cancels Meeting With Israel Over Netanyahu Spat
By Sam Barron | Wednesday, 19 June 2024 12:59 PM EDT
Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/arms-aid-israel/2024/06/19/id/1169343/
The White House reportedly canceled a meeting with Israel after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the U.S. was withholding military aid in a video message. The meeting was scheduled for Thursday to discuss Iran, but top advisers to President Joe Biden were enraged by the video, Axios reported, citing U.S. officials.
“This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts,” a U.S. official told Axios.
Netanyahu said in the video it was “inconceivable that, in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
President Joe Biden has delayed delivering certain heavy bombs since May over concerns about Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza. Yet the administration has gone to lengths to avoid any suggestion that Israeli forces have crossed a red line in the deepening Rafah invasion, which would trigger a more sweeping ban on arms transfers.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said they have provided Israel with billions of dollars in weapons and had only paused one weapons shipment.
“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about,” she said.
Netanyahu also claimed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a recent visit to Israel, said he was working around the clock to end the delays. However, Blinken said Tuesday the only pause was related to those heavy bombs from May.
“We, as you know, are continuing to review one shipment that President Biden has talked about with regard to 2,000-pound bombs because of our concerns about their use in a densely populated area like Rafah,” Blinken said during a State Department news conference. “That remains under review. “But everything else is moving as it normally would.”
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told Netanyahu in person that his accusations were inaccurate and out of line, Israeli officials told Axios. National security adviser Jake Sullivan will still be meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will also be visiting early next week, officials told Axios.
In March, Netanyahu canceled a meeting with U.S. officials after they declined to veto a UN Security Council resolution that mentioned a cease-fire in Gaza.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
Read more: White House Cancels Meeting With Israel Over Netanyahu Spat | Newsmax.com
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