White House perplexed by Netanyahu claims that U.S. is withholding weapons

[Pelican Press 0]

White House perplexed by Netanyahu claims that U.S. is withholding weapons

The White House, State Department, and Pentagon say they do not know what ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was talking about when he said this week that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was working to remove “bottlenecks” holding up weapons shipments to *******. But one U.S. official offered an explanation for the ******** leader’s accusation.

Netanyahu, in a video released Tuesday, said he told Blinken it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from *******.

The U.S. has been reviewing one shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound ****** since May. As ******* was preparing for a major offensive in Rafah, the Biden administration paused the shipment because, as President Biden put it in an interview last month, “Civilians have been ******* in Gaza as a consequence of those ******.   

“I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah,” Mr. Biden said. However, the administration said the U.S. would continue to support the Iron Dome, the system that protects ******* from rocket *****, and ensure ******* is able to “respond to attacks” originating in the Middle East. The Pentagon says the U.S. has continued to send weapons to ******* in the weeks since. 

According to the U.S. official, Netanyahu’s remarks in the video are apparently based on IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi’s belief that the U.S. is slow-rolling ******* on smaller-ticket items like aircraft spare parts. However, the official insists there’s been no such delay, except for the shipment of 2,000-pound ******, which were about to leave an East Coast weapons depot by ship when the delivery was halted in early May. They were about to leave an East coast weapons depot by ship when the delivery was halted. ******* doesn’t need them for Gaza, but it would if the conflict in Lebanon escalates further.

However, the official also said, “The Israelis haven’t come close to achieving their objective of destroying ******” in the war that began with ******’ Oct. 7 massacre in southern ******* of over a thousand Israelis. Hundreds of fighters and miles of unexplored tunnels remain, and ****** leader Yahya Sinwar is still at large, according to this official. Since ******* has no “day after” plan, the current strategy is “a recipe for continuous war,” the official said.

Netanyahu’s claim about U.S. weapons shipment delays comes as fighting has escalated between ******* and Hezbollah on *******’s border with Lebanon. ******* and the Iran-backed group have been exchanging ***** since October, but the attacks from both sides have increased in recent weeks and are threatening to open up a wider regional war that the Biden administration has been trying for months to avoid. This official believes that an ******** decision on whether to go into Lebanon will come at the end of July. 

John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, told reporters Thursday the administration didn’t know about Netanyahu’s video in advance and said it was “perplexing” and “disappointing.” 

“There’s no other country that’s done more, or will continue to do more than the ******* States to help ******* defend itself,” Kirby said. 

In a statement released by his office Thursday, Netanyahu said, “I am ready to suffer personal attacks provided that ******* receives from the U.S. the ammunition it needs in the war for its existence.”

Eleanor Watson

Eleanor Watson is a CBS News reporter covering the Pentagon.

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