Israel's Defense Minister Flies to U.S. to Get Weapons White House Says Aren't Being Withheld

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant left Israel on Saturday night to convince the Biden administration to release the shipments of arms and ammunition that Israel says it needs and the White House has claimed it is not withholding.

For months, there had been rumors that the U.S. had been slowing down shipments of weapons that Israel needs — not only for its war against Hamas in Gaza, but for a potential war against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon as well.

President Joe Biden confirmed that the U.S. was withholding weapons in May — specifically, heavy precision bombs, which he said Israel should not be able to use in its attack on Hamas battalions in Rafah, out of concern for civilans.

Biden said he would hold back on other weapons as well, including artillery rounds. But amid growing controversy, the White House insisted that only one shipment of heavy bombs had been withheld, largely as a symbolic gesture.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the unusual step of publicly and directly criticizing the Biden administration in a video in which he asked it to stop withholding weapons Israel needed in a “war of survival.”

The White House said it did not know what he was talking about, and publicly criticized him. But several Republican senators confirmed that the White House had been using bureaucratic tricks to avoid shipping approved weapons.

On Saturday night, Gallant left for the U.S. — at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — to discuss the war. The Times of Israel reported that the main purpose of the visit, in fact, was to discuss the delayed weapons:

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant headed to Washington, DC, on Sunday for a whirlwind visit whose main aim was to get the United States to unfreeze a shipment of heavy-duty bombs it has been withholding from Israel.

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Gallant was set to discuss a range of issues besides the arms shipment, including other weapons the Israeli military needs, as well as the war in Gaza and the threats Israel is facing from Lebanon and Iran.

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The visit was also set to touch on Iran’s nuclear program, which according to the UN watchdog has continued to expand throughout Israel’s war against its proxies.

Netanyahu began a meeting of his governing coalition on Sunday with remarks that addressed the issue (translation via Government Press Office):

I greatly appreciate the support of President Biden and the American administration for Israel. Since the start of the war, the US has given us support in spirit and in materiel – defensive and offensive means.

But 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 did this time and again. We did so at the highest levels, and at all levels, and I want to emphasize – we did so behind closed doors. We received all sorts of explanations, but one thing we did not receive; the basic situation did not change. 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. I expected that this would entail personal attacks against me at home and abroad, as happened when I came out against the nuclear agreement with Iran, as happened – and as is happening – when I repeatedly opposed the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state, and as is now happening when I oppose ending the war while Hamas remains in place. But I am willing to absorb personal attacks on behalf of the State of Israel.

As the Prime Minister of Israel, my job is to do everything to ensure that our heroic fighters receive the arms they need.

In light of what I have heard over the past 24 hours, I hope and believe that this issue will be resolved in the near future. But I would like to emphasize, and I have said this to our American friends, there is one item we have and it will always be decisive: The heroism and determination of our fighters – and with this weapon we will win.

There is growing concern in Israel that the lack of U.S. support could embolden Hamas to continue fighting — and could invite more aggression from Hezbollah, as tensions continue to rise.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.