Netanyahu says Blinken assured him that the US will cancel restrictions on arms supply By Reuters
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had confirmed to him that the Biden administration was working to cancel restrictions on arms deliveries to Israel.
Netanyahu said in a statement that when he met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, he expressed his appreciation for the support the United States has given Israel since the start of the war against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in October. But he also said “it is absurd that for the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel.”
Blinken, Netanyahu said, confirmed that the administration is working “day and night” to remove those bottles.
“I really hope so. It should be so,” said Netanyahu. “Give us the tools and we will finish the job as soon as possible.”
President Joe Biden last month warned Israel that the US would stop supplying it with weapons if the Israeli army launched a major attack on Rafah, a town full of refugees in southern Gaza.
Days later, the Israeli military launched an offensive in Rafah, claiming that Hamas terrorists were hiding there and reiterating that eliminating Hamas and returning hostages were Israel’s main goals.
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that two key Democrats in the US Congress agreed to support a major arms sale to Israel including 50 F-15 fighter jets worth more than $18 billion.
Representative Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, he said, signed the deal under intense pressure from the Biden administration after the two attorneys held up the sale for months.
