(Washington) The often complicated relationship between the White House and Benjamin Netanyahu is experiencing a new episode of tension, after the Israeli Prime Minister criticized the pace of deliveries of American military aid.
The comments in question are “deeply disappointing and certainly offensive to us, given the extent of the support we have provided and will continue to provide,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
In question, a video in English published Tuesday by Benyamin Netanyahu on the social network
The Israeli prime minister reacted to the remarks from Washington on Thursday, declaring: “I am ready to suffer personal attacks on the condition that Israel receives from the United States the weapons it needs in the war for its existence.”
Benjamin Netanyahu is expected in Washington on July 24, in the middle of the campaign for the presidential and legislative elections, to deliver a speech to Congress.
“No other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself against the threat of Hamas and other regional threats,” John Kirby said.
“We really don’t know what he’s talking about,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre had already said on Tuesday.
More measured, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declared Thursday: “Our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct. We’ve proven that not just in words, but in deeds, and I don’t think it’s productive to engage in a public back-and-forth about it.”
Bombs
Washington said a single delivery of 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs to Israel was under review due to concerns about their use in densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip.
John Kirby also indicated that American national security adviser Jake Sullivan would meet his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, in Washington on Thursday.
The two Israeli envoys also spoke during the day with Antony Blinken, according to a senior American official.
The head of American diplomacy “reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security,” Matthew Miller said in a statement after the meeting.
The American Secretary of State also stressed “the importance of avoiding a new escalation in Lebanon” through a “diplomatic solution allowing Israeli and Lebanese families”, displaced by the exchange of fire at the border, “ to return home,” added Mr. Miller.
The dry reaction from the White House on Thursday is not the first episode of tensions with the head of the Israeli government since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
American President Joe Biden makes no secret of his troubled relationship with the head of the Israeli government.
In particular, he publicly stated his opposition to a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah where more than a million civilians are trapped, and threatened to stop certain arms deliveries to Israel if his warning was not heeded.
The war in the Gaza Strip is a politically thorny subject for the 81-year-old Democrat, who will seek a second term in November against his Republican rival Donald Trump.
The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory and the ever-increasing human toll have earned the American president strong criticism from the progressive camp, and from voters of Arab origin.
However, the United States remains, in fact, the primary diplomatic and military supporter of Israel, facing increasing international pressure after a little more than eight months of conflict.