US claims Israel, not Biden, behind arms transfer slowdown

Biden admin. denies limiting arms sales to Israel, claims Israel cutting back on orders

By World Israel News Staff

The Biden administration has not slowed weapons transfers to Israel, several U.S. officials say, claiming that the decrease in arms sales is due to a decline in orders, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent claims.

Last Tuesday, Netanyahu published a video statement accusing the White House of withholding military aid from Israel in wartime, a claim the White House publicly dismissed while reportedly delivering a blistering personal response to, via administration envoy Amos Hochstein.

Days later, Netanyahu doubled down on the claim, accusing the Biden White House of imposing severe limits on arms sales to Israel during the ongoing Gaza war.

“Four months ago, there was a dramatic decrease in the munitions coming to Israel from the U.S. For long weeks, we turned to our American friends and requested that the shipments be expedited.”

Republican lawmakers took the Biden administration to task over the slow-down, pointing to media reports that the White House had frozen planned shipments of aerial munitions and impede the sale of F-15 jet fighters, ammunition, tactical vehicles, and other weapons.

On Wednesday, however, The Wall Street Journal cited several administration officials who claimed that while the rate of weapons transfers to Israel had in fact slowed, it was not caused by restrictions imposed by the White House, but instead a decline in IDF purchases.

One State Department official said that while the rate of weapons transfers has declined since the beginning of the war, it is only in comparison to the unusually expedited rate during the airlifts immediately after October 7^th.

“Our pace is normal, if not accelerated, but slow relative to the first few months of the war,” the official said.

According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, the decline in transfers could also be the result of decreased purchases by Israel.

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, a White House official appeared to dismiss Netanyahu’s claims.

“We have made our position clear on this repeatedly and we are not going to keep responding to the prime minister’s political statements.”