White House says Netanyahu's 'incorrect' allegations of US withholding weapons are 'vexing'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House rebuffed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, saying his "incorrect" claims that the US is withholding weapons deliveries are "vexing" the administration.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the allegations by Netanyahu on Tuesday "were deeply disappointing and certainly vexing to us given the amount of support that we have and will continue to provide Prime Minister Netanyahu."

Asked why Netanyahu would make such a claim, Kirby said, "You'd have to talk to the prime minister about what prompted him to do that."

"It was vexing and disappointing to us as much as it was incorrect, so difficult to know exactly what was on his mind," he added.

Netanyahu said in a video posted on X that it is "inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel."

Kirby said the Biden administration has made it "abundantly clear" to Israel "our deep disappointment in the statements expressed in that video and our concerns over the accuracy in the statements made."

In the wake of the row, Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported that a bilateral meeting between US and Israeli delegations in Washington was downgraded to include only a meeting of the nations' national security advisors.

Speaking about the meeting's reported reduction in stature, Kirby confirmed that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet later Thursday with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, and Israel's Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

"It'll be a wide-ranging discussion, I think you can imagine about everything that's going on with the Gaza war, with our support to Israel, with our efforts to get a better sense of how they're continuing to prosecute the operations against Hamas, as well as continuing to talk about the importance of closing on this deal," he said.

Israel, which has flouted a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, has faced international condemnation amid its more than eight-month offensive on the coastal enclave.

More than 37,350 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,400 others injured, according to local health authorities. A cross-border raid led by Hamas killed less than 1,200 people.

The Israeli war has left vast tracts of Gaza in ruins amid sweeping restrictions on the delivery of badly needed international humanitarian assistance.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge. Israel invaded the southern city on May 6. Hostilities remain ongoing there, and elsewhere in Gaza.