US, Israel cite progress on resolving weapons rift

Following Benjamin Netanyahu’s public accusation that President Joe Biden’s administration was slowing down weapons shipments, Israel and the US announced on Wednesday that they had made headway toward mending their differences over US arms exports.

Over the course of three days in Washington, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited with high-ranking officials and expressed optimism that differences with Israel’s crucial ally could be discreetly resolved. This was an implied contrast to Netanyahu’s more combative style.

“During the meetings we made significant progress, obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed,” Gallant said after meeting with Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor.

Gallant said the progress was on “a variety of issues” including “the topic of force build-up and munition supply that we must bring to the state of Israel.”

“I would like to thank the US administration and the American public for their enduring support for the state of Israel,” he said.

Recently, Netanyahu has openly accused the Biden administration of stalling Israel’s arms supply. Israel and Hamas have been at war in Gaza since October 7.

Months before an election where Biden’s support for Israel has become a problem due to indignation from his Democratic Party’s left wing over the high number of Palestinian civilian deaths, US officials have both disputed the charges and expressed dissatisfaction.

Early in May, the US halted a shipment that contained bombs weighing two thousand pounds, and Biden issued a warning about a further stop while pressuring Israel to refrain from launching a massive military attack on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where over a million Palestinian refugees had taken refuge.

A senior US administration official said the United States has sent more than $6.5 billion in weapons to Israel since October 7, with nearly $3 billion alone in May.

“This is a massive, massive undertaking and nothing is paused other than one shipment,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official blamed the rift on misunderstandings of the “complex” US bureaucratic process. He said Gallant’s team and US experts went through “every single case.”

“There was real progress and a mutual understanding of where things stand, of prioritization of certain cases over others, so that we can make sure that we are moving things in ways that meet the needs of the Israelis,” he said.