The ongoing feud between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House continues to escalate.
On Monday, June 24, Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly discussed a recent conversation he had with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. During the video, he claimed Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised to eliminate all restrictions on weapons transfers to Israel.
“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war,” Netanyahu said.
“But I also said something else, I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel…Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.”
Shortly thereafter, Blinken was asked about the Prime Minister’s comments. According to the Secretary of State, Netanyahu had exaggerated the situation and clarified that only one shipment had been withheld.
“We are continuing to review one shipment that President [Joe] Biden has talked about with regard to 2000-pound bombs because of our concerns about their use in a densely populated area like Rafah. That remains under review,” Blinken told reporters.
“But everything else is moving as it normally would move… with the perspective of making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges [it faces].”
After addressing the Prime Minister’s comments, Blinken met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss the matter further. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the two discussed “ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages and alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
“The eyes of both our enemies and our friends are on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel,” Gallant said on Tuesday.
“We must resolve the differences between us quickly and stand together – this is how we will achieve our goals and weaken our enemies.”
Despite the meeting, many political insiders are looking into Israel’s relationship with the U.S. under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu. Speculation continues to rise about Netanyahu waging discord with the Biden administraion in anticipation of a potential Donald Trump victory on Election Day.
“When you have one friend in the world, you don’t pick a fight with that friend, unless there’s a better friend coming along,” former senior policy advisor Laura Blumenfeld told The Hill.
“Part of this is about Netanyahu anticipating a Trump presidency and working with the Republicans in Congress to kind of box Biden in and embarrass him during the national presidential campaign.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert went as far as to accuse Netanyahu of attempting to “sabotage Biden’s reelection campaign.”
“Netanyahu is now trying to shatter this entire complex system,” he wrote.
“His displays of braggadocio and arrogance on television, in which he berates the president of the United States and his actions, are a master performance of irresponsibility, losing one’s cool and contempt for Israel’s most basic needs, and a calculated attempt to sabotage Biden’s reelection campaign.”
