Protests engulf Israel amid U.S. and Netanyahu clash over claims of arms holdup
Relations between allies the U.S. and Israel over the war in Gaza appear increasingly strained after the White House expressed deep disappointment over criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Concerning the flow of arms to Israel, Netanyahu said on Friday: "This is crucial. It's crucial for our common war aims to defeat Hamas and to prevent an escalation in Lebanon to a full-fledged war to have this supply."
Netanyahu spoke after he published an English-language video in which he accused the Biden administration of withholding arms to Israel.
In a rare account of normally private diplomatic conversations, Netanyahu also said he told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it was "inconceivable" that in the past few months Washington was withholding weapons and ammunition.
White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. had directly expressed displeasure to Israel.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3xphMGP
Concerning the flow of arms to Israel, Netanyahu said on Friday: "This is crucial. It's crucial for our common war aims to defeat Hamas and to prevent an escalation in Lebanon to a full-fledged war to have this supply."
Netanyahu spoke after he published an English-language video in which he accused the Biden administration of withholding arms to Israel.
In a rare account of normally private diplomatic conversations, Netanyahu also said he told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it was "inconceivable" that in the past few months Washington was withholding weapons and ammunition.
White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. had directly expressed displeasure to Israel.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3xphMGP
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NewsTranscript
00:00At least three people, including a father and son, are believed to have been killed
00:04in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza's southern city of Qanunis.
00:13It struck a building next to a United Nations school where dozens of Palestinian families
00:18have been sheltering. Many of them have been displaced several times from other parts of
00:23the enclave due to Israel's continuous bombardment.
00:26There was a house next to us the Israeli forces wanted to strike. And as you can see,
00:34our classroom where we shelter is damaged. I don't know where we'll sleep. We have
00:3825 people in this classroom. Look how it's damaged, and our sleeping area. Where will
00:43we sleep? We don't know. We'll have to sleep in the yard.
00:47Meanwhile in Israel, thousands of anti-government protesters have again taken to the streets
00:52calling for an immediate deal to release hostages in Gaza. Many gathered outside the
00:57Prime Minister's private residence demanding early elections. Our correspondent Jonathan
01:02Regev is in Tel Aviv for us now. Jonathan, are these protests having any impact on the
01:07Netanyahu government?
01:12I think that the answer is no. The protests do not impact so much on the government because
01:18the government is there on a strong majority of 64 members in the coalition. And that 64
01:26member majority is still there regardless of the protests. Netanyahu has a very strong
01:32grip on his coalition. With all of the turmoils that we've seen in the year and a half of
01:38this government before and after the war, the grip that he has on that coalition is
01:44still standing. And therefore, as big as the protests may be, for the government to
01:51fall down, for this to happen, it has to happen through a motion in the Israeli parliament,
01:57the Knesset, to which at least 61 members will vote for it. The opposition has 56 members.
02:04So far we're not seeing any of the coalition members crossing the line voting with the
02:09opposition on any of these motions. Therefore, I think that the answer to your question is
02:14no and not a lot of effect for these protests, as big as they may be, on the government which
02:22continues along this path. If we look at the past week, the protesters, of course, one
02:29more layer that they added to their protests is the fact that relations with the United
02:35States are deteriorating. Israel strongly depends on the United States. And yet Netanyahu
02:40came out with this video of his saying that the U.S. is withholding some weapons shipments.
02:47And that, of course, was brought up by the protesters. Even that is not able for the
02:52moment to shake up the Netanyahu coalition.
02:55And regarding those tensions between the United States and Israel, what more do we know about
03:00the Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Israeli officials?
03:07We know that there is a great anger in the United States. The Americans are saying we
03:12simply don't know why Benjamin Netanyahu had to do this. Why did he have to come up with
03:16this video? And why did he have to do this at such a sensitive time? Israel does not
03:21only depend on the United States for the success of its campaign in Gaza, for anything regarding
03:28Gaza, in the United Nations Security Council, with the Americans vetoing again and again
03:33and again any anti-Israel motion. Now, as it seems, war in the north may be getting
03:40close, and Israel would strongly need American support, not only on the diplomatic level
03:47but on the battleground level as well. Coming out with such a video at this sensitive time
03:54saying the Americans we simply don't understand why it happened, especially due to the fact
03:58that there's nothing to it. The Americans are unaware of any shipments that are delayed
04:03to Israel and such a video at any time, and especially at this time, is simply a wrong
04:08thing to do. Great anger in Washington regarding this video.
04:12Jonathan Regev in Tel Aviv. Many thanks.