Speaking nearly two weeks after the U.S. election, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered sharp criticism of the Biden administration’s decisions and guidance during pivotal moments in Israel’s ongoing conflict with Iran and its proxies.
Addressing the Knesset plenum on Monday, Netanyahu remarked, “The US had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza. It had reservations about entering Gaza City, Khan Younis, and, most critically, strongly opposed entry into Rafah.”
American officials had publicly called on Israel to carefully tailor its operations in Rafah to minimize harm to civilians.
“President Biden told me that if we go in, we will be alone,” Netanyahu stated. “He also said that he would stop shipments of important weapons to us. And so he did. A few days later, [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken appeared and repeated the same things, and I told him — we will fight with our nails.”
While the U.S. withheld one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, it allowed all other arms transfers to proceed.
Netanyahu also criticized the U.S. response to Iran’s missile and drone strikes on Israel. “Again, we were told by our friend that there is no need to respond. And I said that sitting and not reacting is not acceptable, and we responded,” he said.
{Matzav.com}