Netanyahu-Biden rift deepens as Israeli PM repeats weapons claim

Dispute over military aid highlights a growing partisanship in Washington over the alliance with Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2023. AFP

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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doubling down on claims, which the US has denied, that the Biden administration is slowing support of military aid to its ally.

Mr Netanyahu's comments are the latest evidence of a growing rift with US President Joe Biden, who has pledged almost unfettered support for Israel as it wages war in the Gaza Strip.

“We began to see that we had some significant problems emerging a few months ago,” Mr Netanyahu told Punchbowl News in an interview published on Friday.

“We tried, in many, many quiet conversations between our officials and American officials, and between me and the President, to try to iron out this diminution of supply.

“We haven’t been able to solve it … I felt that airing it was absolutely necessary after months of quiet conversation that did not solve the problem,” the Prime Minister continued.

Mr Netanyahu's comments came after he said on Tuesday that the US was “withholding” military support.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday called Mr Netanyahu's claim “vexing and disappointing to us, as much as it was incorrect”.

Washington says it only ever paused one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, over concerns they would be used in Rafah without sufficient regard to civilian life. Billions of dollars in weaponry, missile defence systems, bombs and other materiel has continued to flow into Israel otherwise.

The latest spat highlights growing disagreements between Mr Biden's Democratic Party and the Republicans over Israel.

Republicans mostly side with Mr Netanyahu in his claims against the Biden administration withholding weapons.

Mike McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday said he was “deeply concerned that Israeli government officials continue to report delays in US weapons being provided to Israel”.

“It is unacceptable for the Biden administration to play politics with Israel’s security.”

Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Republicans of politicising the US relationship with Israel by rallying behind Mr Netanyahu and his far-right government.

Mr Netanyahu is set to address Congress on July 24 at the invitation of both Republican and Democratic party leadership – but Democrats are divided on the matter.

Some progressive members of Mr Biden's party have outright called the Israeli prime minister a “war criminal” over the scope of civilian killings in the Gaza war, including the highest rate of child killings in any modern conflict.

The International Criminal Court's lead prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu and his Defence Minister for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor is also seeking warrants for three Hamas leaders.

Even establishment Democrats have distanced themselves from the Prime Minister over the course of the Gaza war – remaining solid in their support for the state of Israel while criticising the conduct of his government.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in US history, who joined in inviting Mr Netanyahu to Congress, has previously called on the Prime Minister to step down.

Mr Netanyahu also told Punchbowl that he intends to use his Congressional speech to “speak to the broad spectrum of the American people and to cull bipartisan support that is still solid in America and we need it to stay solid”.

The Prime Minister held a closed-door virtual luncheon with the Republican representatives earlier this year, prompting Congressional Democrats to accuse Mr Netanyahu of playing politics.

Mr Netanyahu responded to those criticisms on Friday, protesting that he is “not a partisan, I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m an Israeli patriot, and I speak on behalf of the Israeli people.”

Democrats are toeing a careful line on Israel in a critical election year, as a growing pro-Palestinian movement threatens to upend Mr Biden's campaign in critical swing states.