The News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up pressure on the United States to remove restrictions on weapons transfers to Israel in a video posted to X on Tuesday.
His comments came after Israeli and German media reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured Netanyahu that the US would remove restrictions on the weapons deals.
In the video, Netanyahu said Blinken promised him that the White House “is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks.”
“It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
In May, US President Joe Biden’s administration paused a shipment of bombs as it pressured Israel to scale back its assault on the city of Rafah. That same month, the US proceeded with a transfer of $1 billion worth of ammunition and vehicles for Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The White House has since successful pressured Democrats in Congress to unblock the sale of 50 fighter jets to Israel.