The White House on Thursday expressed disdain for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent criticism of U.S. weapons deliveries to his country, calling the statements “vexing.”
“Those comments were deeply disappointing and certainly vexing to us, given the amount of support that we have and will continue to provide,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
In a video statement posted on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that although he was grateful for U.S. support for Israel during its ongoing war against Hamas, “it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”
The United States, however, said that there is just one shipment of 2,000-pound [900 kilogram] and 500-pound [200 kilogram] bombs that was paused in May due to worries about how they may be used in densely populated parts of Gaza. Israel was still set to receive billions of dollars in U.S. weaponry.
A group of 30 United Nations experts on Thursday, meanwhile, warned that arms and ammunition manufacturers that continue to transfer weapons to Israel could be complicit in human rights abuses and international law violations.
Kirby told reporters that the United States has communicated its displeasure directly to Israel.
“I think we’ve made it abundantly clear to our Israeli counterparts through various vehicles our deep disappointment in the statements expressed in that video and our concerns over the accuracy in the statements made,” Kirby said.
“The idea that we had somehow stopped helping Israel with their self-defense needs is absolutely not accurate,” he added.
The White House comments come as national security adviser Jake Sullivan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned meetings with Netanyahu’s two top aides to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza.
The war was sparked when Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has destroyed much of the territory, killed more than 37,400 people and injured more than 85,600 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Overnight, Israeli forces attacked areas in central Gaza, killing three people and wounding dozens of others, medics said.
Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
