By Kyle Anzalone – Antiwar.com
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a scathing video blasting the White House for holding back weapons shipments to Israel. Washington has blocked one transfer of 2,000-pound bombs but has overwhelmingly provided all the arms requested by Tel Aviv. The PM demanded the US supply the tools Israel needs to “finish the job a lot faster” in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a scathing video blasting the White House for holding back weapons shipments to Israel. Washington has blocked one transfer of 2,000-pound bombs but has overwhelmingly provided all the arms requested by Tel Aviv. The PM demanded the US supply the tools Israel needs to “finish the job a lot faster” in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu posted the video to his X account. Speaking in English, the PM said “When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciate the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war. But I also said something else. I said it is inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel.”
In late April, the White House decided it would suspend the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza. However, President Joe Biden suggested that he would cut off additional arms transfers if Israeli forces proceeded with a full-scale invasion of Rafah. Over a month after that assault began, Biden has failed to follow through on his supposed red line.
According to Netanyahu, the White House will likely reverse course on its vow to scale back this military aid. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these blocks. I certainly hope that is the case. It should be the case,” he explained in the video.
The Israeli leader concluded his message by demanding Biden remove all restrictions on weapons so he could quickly wrap up operations in Gaza. “In WWII Churchill told the US, ‘Give us the tools we’ll do the job.’” He added, “And I say, ‘give us the tools and we will finish the job a lot faster.’”
Throughout the latest conflict with Hamas, top Israeli officials have repeatedly invoked allied war crimes committed during the Second World War in cities like Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki to justify the onslaught in Gaza.
The White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied that the Biden administration was holding up arms shipments to Israel. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We genuinely don’t know what he is talking about.”
Blinken explained only one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs is under review. “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,” he added, “But everything else is moving as it normally would move and, again, with the perspective of making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges.”