The White House continued to push back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusation that the Biden Administration is holding up munitions shipments in wartime.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters today (Thursday) that Netanyahu's claims are “vexing and disappointing to us as much as it was incorrect.”
"It was perplexing, to say the least, certainly disappointing, especially given that no other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself against the threat by Hamas," Kirby said.
“This president put fighter aircrafts up in the air in the middle of April to help shoot down several hundred drones and missiles, including ballistic missiles that were fired from Iran proper at Israel,” he added. “There’s no other country that’s done more or will continue to do more than the United States to help… Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Netanyahu said in response to Kirby's statements, "I am prepared to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel gets the munitions it needs from the US."
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reacted with seeming bewilderment to Netanyahu's statement.
"We genuinely do not know what he is talking about. We just don't," she told reporters. "There was one particular shipment of munitions that was paused."
"We continue to have these constructive discussions with Israelis for the release of that particular shipment," she added. "There are no other pauses, none, no other poses or hold in place. Everything else is moving in due process."
In Tuesday’s video, Netanyahu expressed astonishment at moves from the Biden Administration to hold up munitions shipments to Israel during the war against Hamas.
"When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation, I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war," Netanyahu said.
"But I also said something else, I said it's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel. Israel, America's closest ally, [is] fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies," he added.
"Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that's the case. It should be the case,” continued Netanyahu.
