Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video blasting the Biden administration for allegedly withholding aid appears to have backfired.
On Tuesday, the White House canceled a meeting with Netanyahu scheduled for Thursday after he released a pre-recorded video slamming the administration, according to Axios.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister released a video in which he spoke about a “candid conversation” with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
He added Blinken told him officials were trying to get rid of “bottlenecks” holding up aid.
But, a White House spokesperson told Axios, “We genuinely do not know what he is talking about.”
“Netanyahu’s remarks, made on video in English, were one of his harshest public criticisms of the Biden administration since the war in Gaza began on October 7. They come despite the fact that the U.S. has only withheld one weapons shipment since the war began, while providing billions worth of arms and ammunition,” the outlet noted.
That video reportedly “enraged” top Biden officials, and Axios reports envoy Amos Hochstein expressed that sentiment to Netanyahu during a meeting just hours after the video was released.
Yet, that was not it for White House staffers’ response. In addition, they chose to cancel the upcoming meeting with the prime minister.
“This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts,” a U.S. official told Axios.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official said, “The Americans are fuming. Bibi’s video made a lot of damage.”
