Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said again on Sunday that weapon shipments from the U.S. have been held back despite U.S. claims his accusations were incorrect.
"There was a dramatic drop in the supply of munitions coming from the United States to Israel over the past four months. We reached out to our American friends for weeks, requesting to expedite the shipments,” Netanyahu said to cameras, at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
“We did this repeatedly, at the highest levels and I want to make things clear — we did this behind closed doors. We received various explanations, but the basic situation has not changed. Certain shipments trickled in, but the bulk of the munitions was left behind,” he said.
"After months during which the situation was static, I decided to make it public," Netanyahu said. "I did this based on years of experience and knowing this step was essential to release the bottleneck. I anticipated it would involve personal attacks against me both from within and without,” Netanyahu said. "I’m willing to endure personal attacks for the sake of Israel's security,” he added.
Netanyahu spoke while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was traveling to Washington for meetings with his counterpart Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and others.
American news outlet Politico also reported that White House officials were concerned that Netanyahu would criticize U.S. President Joe Biden when he speaks to a joint session of Congress next month after being extended a bi-partisan invitation. “[Netanyahu’s] video this week was not helpful at all. And he could make it far worse up there in front of Congress.” the officials told Politico. “No one knows what he’s going to say.”
Three American sources told the news site that the White House has yet to send Netanyahu an official invitation to the White House to meet with Biden during his planned visit. They said such an invitation would likely be forthcoming and noted that it would be a "major slap in the face" if Netanyahu did not meet the president. Some Democratic lawmakers, including Elizabeth Warren, have announced they won’t attend the speech.