John Jefferson
A high-level meeting planned between U.S. and Israeli officials regarding Iran’s nuclear program was canceled after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized a lack of U.S. military aid, a source told Fox News, while a White House official pushed back on the claim.
Senior officials had planned to meet Thursday following new revelations about Iran’s nuclear program. Hours after news of the meeting got out, Netanyahu went public with a pre-recorded video, in English, calling a recent lack of U.S. military support for Israel “inconceivable.”
The meeting was canceled after Netanyahu’s comments, a senior official told Fox News. The official said a scheduled U.S. visit by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant next week is proceeding as planned, as are other meetings about aid distribution and coordination.
Meantime, a White House official said plans for the meeting were still moving forward, but have yet to be “fully finalized.”
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Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argued that Netanyahu’s video was a peek behind the curtain at the Biden administration’s policies.
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“What’s becoming clear is that the White House has misled Congress and the American people as to the extent of the withholding of key munitions that Israel needs to defend itself. It’s not just about 2,000-pound bombs, it’s about the precision guided conversion kits,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The president is effectively allying with Iran to squeeze Israel inside Tehran’s ring of fire,” he added, referring to the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.
The Thursday meeting would have pertained to information about a computer modeling program Iran has acquired that could be used to assist in developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s intentions behind the program remain unclear, with officials reportedly split on whether it is innocuous or represents further nuclear ambition from the regime.
Referring to reports of the canceled meeting, a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office declined to elaborate but emphasized that Israel and the U.S. have “ongoing discussions at every single level with US officials,” and that “those are very important to us.”
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Some Israeli officials were already en route to the U.S. when they were informed the meeting was off, Axios reported Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s video referenced a conversation he had with Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his trip to Israel last week. He said he had expressed his “deep appreciation” for U.S. support but tacked on a heavy criticism as well.
“I also said something else, I said it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Fox News’ Caroline McKee contributed to this report.
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