The U.S. says "no other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself."
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations have stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
President Joe Biden’s team is enraged and frustrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's video that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, a U.S. official told ABC News.
U.S. officials have made clear to the Israelis that Netanyahu’s video is inaccurate and out of line, the official said.
A meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials set for Thursday to discuss Iran has been canceled in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on Tuesday that criticized the U.S. for withholding certain weapons, according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.
Israeli officials Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer were both en route to the U.S. when the strategic meeting was canceled, according to a source in the prime minister's office.
A specific time had not been finalized for the meeting at the time of the cancellation, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
One official said national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been traveling and was looking to reschedule. The U.S. is working with Israeli counterparts to find a different time for the meeting.
Netanyahu said when he met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel recently, he told Blinken, "It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel."
"Israel, America's closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies," Netanyahu said. "Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks. I certainly hope that's the case. It should be the case."
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Netanyahu Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons that he referred to are in the process of being delivered to Israel, according to the prime minister's office.
"With the exception of ongoing discussion regarding large diameter munitions, other items are either delivered or in the process of being delivered, or in the normal review process," the embassy said.
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News Tuesday that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang and Michelle Stoddart
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criticizing members of his coalition in a new statement. There have been reports of increased infighting since the war cabinet's dissolution on Monday.
"We are fighting on several fronts and face great challenges and difficult decisions. Therefore, I demand that all coalition partners get a hold of themselves and rise to the importance of the hour," Netanyahu said.
"This is not the time for petty politics or for legislation that endangers the coalition, which is fighting for victory over our enemies," he said. "We must all focus solely on the tasks at hand: Defeating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and returning our residents securely to their homes, both in the north and the south."
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday that the U.S. continues to withhold a single shipment of heavy bombs to Israel and that a final decision on that shipment hasn’t been made.
Ryder declined to address Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that the U.S. is slowing weapon shipments to Israel in general.
"We are absolutely committed to Israel’s inherent right to defend itself," Ryder said. "Since Hamas’ vicious attack on Oct. 7, we’ve rushed billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel to enable them to defend themselves. And we are going to continue to provide them the security assistance they need for defense."
Two U.S. officials involved in approving arms transfers to Israel told ABC News that shipments continue to be greenlit as the administration executes on both longstanding orders in the pipeline as well as new requests made after the onset of the war.
The sole exception, the officials said, is the frozen shipment of the 2,000-pound bombs. The officials said the decision to pause that delivery was made by the White House and that, if it’s ultimately lifted, they expect that order will come from the White House, too.
While the process of actually delivering approved transfers happens across a wide network, including the Department of Defense and private companies, the officials said they weren’t aware of any other holdups that might be perceived as a bottleneck.
In the first weeks and months of the conflict, the Biden administration worked to speed up deliveries to Israel. On two occasions in December, Secretary Antony Blinken invoked an emergency authority to expedite arms sales to Israel, bypassing congressional approval.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Shannon Crawford
