Netanyahu to Blinken: ‘It's inconceivable that the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel’

Blinken assures Israel the US is working to ‘remove bottlenecks’

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The Biden administration has assured Israel that obstacles blocking the shipment of ammunition to the country amid the ongoing war will be 'removed.'

The U.S. vow was revealed in a video statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war,” Netanyahu said. “But I also said something else. I said it's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

Netanyahu's post continued: “Israel, America's closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies. Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that's the case. It should be the case.”

“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,” the Israeli prime minister concluded.

Netanyahu’s first-of-its-kind public statement followed reports on Israel’s Channel 12 News and the German tabloid Bild indicating Blinken had promised Netanyahu that all restrictions on weapons shipments would be lifted in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a major arms sale to Israel that includes 50 F-15 fighter jets is moving forward after delays in the U.S. Congress.

Netanyahu reportedly demanded that U.S. arms transfers would resume at the same levels provided right after the Oct. 7 invasion and attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. He also warned that the slowdown in military aid to Israel plays to the hands of Iran and its proxies in the region, increasing the risk of the war expanding to new fronts.

The U.S. State Department did not comment on these reports.

In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States was stalling weapons shipments to Israel in an attempt to stop Israel from launching an offensive into Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah. The hold-up reportedly included various types of munitions valued at a billion dollars.

In an interview with CNN last month, Biden said: “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into 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.”

Nevertheless, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told reporters in recent weeks that Israel’s operations in Rafah have not crossed Biden’s “red line” for withholding arms shipments.