White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fired back at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he claimed Tuesday that the U.S. had been withholding military aid from Israel over the past several months.
Netanyahu said Tuesday he conveyed his appreciation for American support for Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a recent meeting. “But I also said something else,” Netanyahu added. “I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions [sic] to Israel.”
Blinken replied that the U.S. was “working day and night to remove these bottlenecks,” according to Netanyahu.
“I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case,” Netanyahu said, highlighting Israel’s status as the U.S.’s closest ally. “During World War II, Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, ‘Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job—a lot faster,'” he added.
Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job. pic.twitter.com/eQHpyd9q0X
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 18, 2024
“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about, we just don’t,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday in response to a reporter’s question on Netanyahu’s remarks.
“There was one particular shipment of munitions that was paused,” she continued, referring to an instance in May—potentially the first known instance of the U.S. stalling on delivering military aid to Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. (RELATED: House Republicans Reportedly Plan Pushback Against Biden’s Pause On Israel Arms Transfer)
“You’ve heard us talk about that many times. We continue to have these constructive conversations with Israelis for the release of that particular shipment that I just mentioned and [I] don’t have any updates on that,” Jean-Pierre added.
“There are no other pauses—none—no other pauses or holds in place,” Jean-Pierre said.
Quoting Blinken, Jean-Pierre also said, “[E]verything else is moving in due process.”
“Just to confirm: only the shipment of those 2,000-pound bombs have [sic] been withheld?” another reporter asked.
“Yes,” replied Jean-Pierre.
The U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein personally told Netanyahu hours after the Prime Minister’s video statement was published that the statement enraged U.S. President Joe Biden’s top advisers, Axios reported.
The U.S. government then canceled a high-level bilateral meeting with Israel on Iran scheduled for Thursday, two U.S. officials reportedly told Axios.
The meeting was canceled while some Israeli officials reportedly were en route to Washington for the meeting.
