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White House says Biden will ‘likely’ meet Netanyahu this month

Ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress and amid simmering tensions between Biden administration and the Israeli government, White House says the president will probably meet with the prime minister in Washington.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Joe Biden is mulling meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month, amid simmering tensions between the Biden administration and the Israeli government.

Netanyahu is slated to visit Washington later this month for his July 24th address to a special joint session of Congress – an address the White House fears the Israeli leader could use to criticize the Biden administration’s limits on arms transfers to Israel during the Gaza war.

The White House has sought to downplay differences with Jerusalem over the slow-down in weapons transfers, a wedge issue for Democrats that has polarized moderates and anti-Israel progressives in an increasingly challenging election cycle.

On Tuesday, a White House official told The Times of Israel that the president will “likely” meet with Netanyahu during the latter’s visit this month.

“The president has known Prime Minister Netanyahu for three decades. They will likely see each other when the prime minister is here over the course of that week, but we have nothing to announce at this time.”

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The Biden administration has in recent weeks pushed back on two public claims by Netanyahu that the White House has restricted or delayed weapons transfers to the IDF during the war on Hamas.

In mid-June, the White House reportedly delivered a scathing response to Netanyahu personally, via envoy Amos Hochstein, after Netanyahu released a video statement accusing the Biden administration of “withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

“Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.”

A week later, Netanyahu accused the Biden White House of imposing a “a dramatic decrease” in weapons transfers to Israel.

Netanyahu’s claims and reports that the White House has not only barred the transfer of aerial munitions but also delayed the transfer of ammunition, fighter aircraft, and other weapons drew fire from Republican lawmakers.