Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed the Biden administration for withholding munitions from Israel, calling it "inconceivable."
In a video statement recounting his meeting last week with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Netanyahu said he told Blinken, "I deeply appreciat[e] the support the U.S. has given Israel since the beginning of the war." But, Netanyahu added, "It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel."
Netanyahu was referencing the decision by the Biden administration to pause munitions shipments to Israel over concerns that they would be used in Rafah. "I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities—that deal with that problem," Biden said in a May interview.
Israeli soldiers on the front lines have expressed frustration about the decision to condition weapons shipments, saying it hamstrings the war effort, one that Netanyahu says is a "fight for [Israel’s] life."
Netanyahu also said Blinken made assurances that the Biden administration is "working day and night to remove" the barriers stopping weapons shipments. "I certainly hope that's the case. It should be the case," Netanyahu added.
The video statement from Netanyahu comes a week after Hamas rejected a ceasefire proposal backed by the United States, Israel, and the U.N. Security Council. The Israeli war cabinet was also dissolved over the weekend.
Two congressional Democrats who had been a roadblock to a major arms deal for Israel signed off on the package recently, the Washington Post reported on Monday. House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.) approved the sale to Israel, which will include 50 F-15 fighter jets.
Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of Congress on July 24 to discuss the war effort and the future of the U.S.-Israeli alliance.