The White House criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for blindsiding it with a video that accuses the U.S. of withholding weapons from his country.
“Obviously, we didn’t know that video was coming,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on a media call. “It was perplexing, to say the least. Certainly disappointing, especially given no other country is doing more to help Israel to defend itself against the threat by Hamas.”
In the video, Mr. Netanyahu said it is “inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel, America’s closest ally.”
President Biden is supporting Israel’s attempts to rout Hamas militants from Gaza after an Oct. 7 terror attack on Israeli towns, though the U.S. leader is concerned about the number of Palestinian civilians who’ve died in the military campaign.
The White House said it had constructive talks with Israel over one shipment that Mr. Biden paused, so it didn’t know what prompted Mr. Netanyahu’s complaint.
Mr. Kirby highlighted Mr. Biden’s decision in April to send fighter jets to shoot down drones and missiles that targeted Israel from Iran.
“There’s no country that’s done more, or will continue to do more, than the United States to help Israel defend themselves,” Mr. Kirby said. “Those comments were deeply disappointing and certainly vexing to us given the amount of support that we have and will continue to provide Mr. Netanyahu.”
Asked what Mr. Netanyahu’s motivation might have been, Mr. Kirby said, “I couldn’t tell ya.”
“No idea,” he said. “You’ve have to talk to the prime minister about what prompted him to do that.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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