Photo: Collected
The United States significantly decreased supplies of munitions to Israel four months ago and has remained unresponsive to Israel's requests to supply more, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (23 June), adding that he hoped that speaking up about the issue publicly would help resolve it.
"Four months ago, there was a dramatic decrease in the munitions coming to Israel from the US. For long weeks, we turned to our American friends and requested that the shipments be expedited ... We received all sorts of explanations, but one thing we did not receive; the basic situation did not change," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.
Israel's prime minister added that "certain items arrived sporadically but the munitions at large remained behind."
"After months in which there was no change in this situation, I decided to give this public expression. We did so out of years of experience and the knowledge that this step was vital to opening the bottleneck," Netanyahu said.
He also said that he was "willing to absorb personal attacks on behalf of the State of Israel" that he believes could follow after his remarks.
In May, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the pause in arms deliveries to Israel, adding that this concerned only one batch. US President Joe Biden later said that he would stop aviation bomb and artillery munition deliveries if the operation in the Gaza Strip was extended to the southernmost city of Rafah. But the United States would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including air defense systems, he added.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US continues shipping weapons to Israel, but for the only batch of aviation bombs that remains under consideration.
Messenger/Mumu
