Blinken rejects Netanyahu's claim of the US withholding more than one shipment of weapons

The US rejected on Tuesday a claim made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington is withholding weapons.

“When Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war.”

Blinken said Washington was still reviewing one shipment of large bombs for Israel over concerns that they could be used in densely populated areas.

“But I also said something else,” Netanyahu added. “I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel. Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks.”

“I certainly hope that’s the case,” he said. “It should be the case.”

At a news conference on Tuesday at the White House, shortly after Netanyahu released the video, Blinken confirmed that the US was still reviewing the one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that President Joe Biden had paused last month.

“But everything else is moving as it normally would move, and again, with the perspective of making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges,” Blinken said.

Later in the day, the White House said only one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs had been withheld and nothing else.

“We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “We just don’t.”

The White House is having constructive discussions with Israelis for the release of the particular shipment of the 2,000-lb. bombs, she said, adding that there was no update at this time.

“There are no other pauses, none,” Jean-Pierre said. “No other pauses or holds in place.”

The Pentagon refrained from directly commenting on Netanyahu's remarks, though Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said additional security packages have been sent to Israel since Biden announced the pause of the one shipment last month. 

"Since Hamas's vicious attack on October 7, we've rushed billions of dollars of security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves, and we're going to continue to provide them with the security assistance they need, again, for defense," Ryder said. "Now, we paused one shipment of high payload unguided munitions."

Ryder said there's not been a final determination at this time on how to proceed with that shipment. 

"As you've heard us say previously, there are concerns about the use of these munitions in a dense urban setting, like Rafaj, and we've been very clear with the Israelis about the steps that they must take to be effective in this fight," he added. 

Blinken said Israel was facing a multiplicity of threats and challenges at the moment, including from Hezbollah in the North, directed by Iran, from the Houthis in the Red Sea, and from various groups aligned against Israel and in many cases beholden to Iran.

He said Biden has been clear from day one that he will do everything he can to make sure Israel has when it needs to effectively defend itself against these threats.

“And a big part of that, as well, is making sure that in providing that assistance to Israel, it has a strong deterrent, which is the best way to avoid more conflict, to avoid more war, and to avoid what we’re already seeing in Gaza spreading to other areas,” Blinken said.

Ceasefire negotiations

Regarding Gaza, he said he would not say with conviction that the proposed ceasefire deal will be reached, as Hamas keeps moving the negotiating line.

“There could be a ceasefire right now, if they had said yes a week ago,” Blinken said. “So, we’ll continue to work this with urgency, with determination to see if we can bridge the gap.”

Hamas has to decide, he said, and it could decide again to continue to move the goalposts, resulting in people continuing to suffer horrifically every single day.

“You have to question whether one individual living – we believe hundreds of feet underground, relatively safe – is putting his own interests and his own views ahead of the interests, the needs of the people that he purports to represent,” Blinken said, referring to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza.

Netanyahu said at the end of his announcement: “During World War II, [British prime minister Winston] 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.”

Netanyahu made his remarks two days after he dissolved the war cabinet in an attempt to defuse demands by far-right members of his coalition to be included in the small forum that has charted the direction of the Gaza war since it began.

Reuters contributed to this report.