White House, Netanyahu Split on Weapons Shipments

The White House is disagreeing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that the United States is withholding weapons from Israel and is hampering the Israeli military's ongoing offensive in Gaza.

Key Details: According to Axios (Lean Left bias) and several Hebrew media outlets, high-level talks in Washington, D.C., were cancelled after Netanyahu posted a video statement claiming the U.S. was withholding arms shipments. The White House denies these reports. While Axios cited two White House officials claiming the meeting was canceled, it also cited a third official who said the meeting was "postponed rather than canceled, due to a scheduling issue." The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) also reported that the meeting was postponed because of scheduling issues, citing a White House official. Meanwhile, Netanyahu prepares to address Congress on July 24 — an address that many Democrats plan to boycott.

Key Quotes: "It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel," Netanyahu said. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "We genuinely do not know what he is talking about. We just don't," adding that only one shipment of heavy bombs had been paused since the war began.

For Context: A shipment of 3,500 bombs was put on hold in May due to U.S. concerns over an imminent Israeli ground operation in Rafah. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his last meeting in Israel, reassured Netanyahu that the U.S. was working to remove bottlenecks in arms deliveries.

How the Media Covered it: Some sources on the left noted that Netanyahu's remarks were one of his harshest public criticisms of the Biden Administration since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. Some sources on the right noted that the Biden administration has become increasingly disapproving of Israel's handling of the war in Gaza. Update 6/19/24 11:49 p.m. ET: Added context on Axios' sources.