Gallant and Netanyahu trade barbs over US-Israel ties, arms delivery

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant exchanged barbs with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Israeli-US relationship as the military leader visited Washington in an attempt to strengthen those ties and bolster American support for the country’s multifront war.

Both men have now claimed to have solved the crisis surrounding the slow walking of arms for the IDF that Israel had purchased from the United States and which Congress had authorized.

“We made significant progress. Obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed in order to advance a variety of issues,” Gallant said, adding that these included “the topics of a force build-up and munition supplies that we must bring to the State of Israel.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Gallant issued a video message, stating, “I am standing here in Washington as Israel’s Minister of Defense to say the following: In every family – and we consider the American people our family – disagreements may arise.”

“Yet, like all families, we discuss our disagreements in-house and remain united,” Gallant asserted.

Just one week earlier, Netanyahu stoked tensions with the Biden administration when he issued a video accusing it of stalling the delivery of arms to Israel.

The White House and the State Department immediately responded, calling his charges inaccurate. Senior Republicans, however, backed Netanyahu’s claim.

Netanyahu later reported that the US Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, had assured him that the issue would be resolved.

Some regarded the prime minister’s words as a botched attempt to fix the crisis by going public on an issue that should have been resolved privately.

Others saw it as an attempt to steal the limelight from Gallant’s visit to Washington, in what is now his second trip there since the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7 that sparked the Gaza war.

Netanyahu has yet to visit Washington since he was sworn into office in December 2022, although he is scheduled to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress on July 24.

Those close to Netanyahu shot back at Gallant, remarking that the prime minister had attempted – without success – to quietly resolve the issue for months behind closed doors.

When quiet diplomacy fails, a “prime minister of Israel has to speak openly so the soldiers can receive what they need – and that’s what’s happened this time as well,” those close to Netanyahu said.

During his visit, Gallant thanked the US and the Biden administration for their historic strong support of Israel and the extra assistance that they have given the Jewish state since the start of the Gaza war.

At the Pentagon, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recalled that US President Joe Biden had approved $14 billion in military assistance to help Israel as it battled two Iranian proxies on its border, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Gallant met with top US politicians as well as with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

“It is moving to see the great support we receive from the US government and the American public,” Gallant said on Wednesday after meeting with Sullivan.

“I would like to thank the US administration and the American public for their enduring support for the State of Israel,” Gallant added.

He also swore his support for the three-phased hostage deal plan that Biden unveiled on May 31. Netanyahu did so as well at the Knesset on Monday, but only after appearing to partially back it on Sunday during an interview he gave with the Israeli television station Channel 14 News.

US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby emphasized that America was committed to Israel’s security and guaranteed that the state did receive military assistance, including arms. He pointed to a highly publicized decision to hold up one shipment but said that this was the only instance in which something like that happened.

“Aid and... military assistance continue to flow to Israel. We are in constant touch with our Israeli counterparts about what they need and [are] doing everything that we can to get them what they need,” Kirby said.

“There remains only one shipment of high-density, low-precision munitions, which has been paused. Everything else continues to flow.

“We want to make sure that they have what they need and that commitment will not waver,” he said.

When asked about the Biden administration’s relationship with Netanyahu, Kirby said that he was the elected prime minister of the State of Israel and therefore the leader that the White House works with.

“I’m not saying that it's all been smooth in every single instance, including in recent days. But we are not going to respond to every one of the prime minister’s political statements in his public pronouncements,” Kirby explained.

He noted that Netanyahu and Biden go way back.

“These are two leaders who have known each other for long decades. They come from different political traditions. They have differing views on a number of issues that are germane not only to the region but certainly specific to Israel,” Kirby said.

“They are absolutely competent and capable of being honest with one another. He [Netanyahu] is the elected prime minister of the State of Israel, and he, therefore, is the leader that we will work with and that we have worked with,” Kirby underlined.