Mark Levin, conservative commentator and host of Fox News’ Mark Levin Show, accused the White House on Sunday of withholding essential weapons from Israel as it wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Biden administration is withholding 120-millimeter tank ammunition, 120-millimeter mortar ammunition, medium tactical vehicles, medium air-to-air missiles, F-15 fighter jets and engines used by F-35 fighter jets, said Levin.
The Biden administration is also withholding JDAMs, used for converting bombs into precision-guided munitions, 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs, rifles for Israel’s police force, .338 medium machine guns and guided missile systems, he said.
In his July 24 speech to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on lawmakers to fast-track military aid as a means to “dramatically expedite” an end to the war in Gaza and prevent all-out war on the Jewish state’s northern border and other fronts.
“In World War II, as Britain fought on the frontlines of civilization, Winston Churchill appealed to Americans with these famous words: ‘Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job,’” said Netanyahu to applause on the right side of the aisle.
“Today, as Israel fights on the frontlines of civilization, I, too, appeal to America,” he said. “Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.”
On June 30, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News Sunday: “This is what is most disturbing to me—is that we’re withholding weapon systems that I have signed off on and Congress has appropriated with the intent of sending those weapons to Israel. That is not helping Israel.”
On June 18, Netanyahu publicly upbraided the Biden administration for its decision, stating, “it’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition” from Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied the charge, saying the administration only held up a single shipment of 2,000-pound bombs but that all of the other arms deliveries are moving forward.
“Everything else is moving as it normally would move, and again, with the perspective of making sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against this multiplicity of challenges,” said Blinken.
A U.S. threat to withhold weapons was first revealed in May, when administration officials said they would halt the delivery of thousands of bombs to Israel amid U.S. concerns that the Israel Defense Forces would use them against the Hamas stronghold of Rafah.
“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities,” Biden told CNN.
