Tipsheet

Why Did The White House Cancel Its Meeting With Israel?

Jamie Parsons
Jamie Parsons  |  June 19, 2024 7:00 PM

The White House decided to cancel a high-level U.S.-Israel meeting after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video claiming the U.S. has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel.

The U.S.-Israel meeting was scheduled for June 20, and the two nations were to discuss Iran. Two days before the meeting, however, Netanyahu released a video on Twitter claiming the Biden administration has been withholding military aid to Israel for the past few months. Top advisors to President Biden were outraged by Netanyahu’s video and shortly after canceled the meeting, according to The New York Post.

Two U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios that a few hours after the video was posted, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein delivered a personal message to Netanyahu informing him about the anger in the White House. Soon after, the White House pulled the plug on the meeting.

“This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts,” a U.S. official said. 

In his video, Netanyahu said he “deeply appreciated” the help the U.S. has given Israel in the war. Still, he believed that it was “inconceivable” how the U.S. has been withholding weapons these past few months from its “closest ally.”

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Netanyahu’s accusation confused the White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the U.S. has only paused one weapons shipment to Israel since the start of the war.  

“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about,” Pierre said. 

However, a U.S. official told Axios that the Biden administration expressed anger rather than bafflement behind closed doors.

Two U.S. officials told Axios that the White House had canceled the meeting to “send a message” about Netanyahu’s video. Still, a third U.S. official told Axios the meeting was postponed rather than canceled due to a “scheduling issue.”

While the Biden Administration has not laid out a clear reason why it was enraged by Netanyahu’s claims–perhaps it was because the prime minister publicly challenged the U.S. claimed “partnership” with Israel–people have gone to social media to voice their support in withholding weapons to Israel.

“The United States should be withholding all offensive military aid to Israel and using our leverage to demand an end to this war,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said in a video tweeted on June 18.

In addition, Sanders said he did not support giving Israel more military aid because the Israel government “did not and does not have the right to go to war” with Palestine, and the “right-wing extremist,” Netanyahu, has “devoted his entire career” to stopping a “two-state solution and lasting peace in the region.”

Biden also said he supports a two-state solution.

Ironically, Palestinians have said the ideal outcome of a two-state solution would be to erase Israel from the map.

On top of the U.S.-Israel meeting, Biden's top advisors decided to cancel the "strategic dialogue" on Israel. The dialogue would have included hours of meetings with officials from the State Department, Pentagon, and U.S. intelligence agencies and their Israel counterparts, according to Axios.

Axios reported that this was the second time a U.S.-Israel meeting on Iran was canceled. In March, Netanyahu canceled a meeting after the U.S. did not veto a UN Security resolution that “included a reference to a ceasefire in Gaza.”

All in all, Netanyahu's video added strain to Biden and Netanyahu's relations. The Biden administration claimed to be upset over Netanyahu's claims, but is it possible its frustration could also come from Netanyahu putting the administration in the hot seat so close to the presidential election?