US war aid worth $6.5 billion discussed during ‘productive’ Gallant visit

“This is a huge, huge undertaking,” said a senior administration official, citing the totals as an indication of the scale and complexity of U.S. support for Israel.

To counter the Israeli accusation that the Americans had caused “bottlenecks” in the flow of weapons – a statement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated publicly last week and which the White House called “confusing” and “inaccurate” – U.S. arms transfer experts went through “hundreds of individual points” with their counterparts accompanying Gallant on his four-day visit, the official said.

Although Gallant’s trip was planned before Netanyahu’s comments, it was partly intended to smooth over increasingly strained relations and demonstrate a different Israeli attitude toward American aid.

The defense minister, who has clashed with Netanyahu himself, told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that “our relationship with the United States is the second most important element for Israel’s security” after Israel’s own military. “We need American diplomatic and political support, shows of force, supplies of ammunition and more.”

Gallant spoke of “significant progress” and said that “obstacles have been removed and bottlenecks eliminated to make progress on a number of issues, particularly troop buildup and ammunition supplies.”

The senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the visit on condition of anonymity in accordance with rules set by the White House, appeared to backtrack on his earlier flat-out denial of Netanyahu’s administration accusation.

“As far as bottlenecks go, we have a complicated, bureaucratic system for good reason … that ensures that we fully comply with all of our obligations to Congress, laws, procedures and regulations.” But, the official acknowledged, “there are issues on the Israeli side about things that they may want that may not have been entirely clear.”

The visit was “extremely constructive and productive,” the official said, thanking Gallant for his “professional approach.”

The Times of Israel called the White House’s praise and Gallant’s claims of “significant progress” on outstanding issues a “rebuke of Netanyahu.” The Biden administration reacted angrily that Netanyahu accepted an invitation first extended by Republican lawmakers to address a joint session of Congress in late July.

Despite the steady flow of weapons, the U.S. government continues to hold back a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs. President Biden has expressed concern that the bombs could be used in densely populated urban areas.

Administration officials and Gallant declined to discuss details of their talks. “I believe allies need to do everything they can to resolve issues behind closed doors,” Gallant said. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”

During his visit, Gallant met with the full range of Biden’s senior national security officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

“They reviewed the unprecedented support for Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks, including the direct defense of Israel by the US military and a coalition of partners against an Iranian attack in April, as well as preparations for any subsequent eventualities,” including diplomatic efforts to avoid war with Lebanon and the US commitment to defend Israel if those efforts fail, the official said.

At each meeting, officials said, they also discussed stalled efforts to finalize a U.S.-backed agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages. Although Biden announced it as an Israeli initiative nearly a month ago, Netanyahu has publicly questioned some aspects of the proposal. Gallant said, “The State of Israel, the defense establishment — we are all committed to the president’s agreement and strongly support it.” Hamas has demanded changes, including a firm Israeli commitment to a permanent cessation of war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Gallant also spoke about the Israeli military’s impending move to what he called “Phase 3” in the war against Hamas, a transition to a low-intensity conflict to stamp out the remaining pockets of militants in Gaza and “enable an alternative government … that is not Israel and is not Hamas.”

This governing body, in which selected Palestinians from the region are appointed to govern the area while Israel continues to provide security, remains vague. “It is a long and complex process that depends on many things,” Gallant said, “including the international community, which must participate and not just criticize.”

The Israeli proposal falls far short of the Biden administration’s plans, which envisage a future government of the Gaza Strip headed by the existing Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and an eventual transition to a separate Palestinian and Israeli state.

Other topics of discussion with high-ranking US officials included Iran’s increasing production of weapons-grade nuclear fuel and the increasingly heated dispute between Israel and the United Nations over the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

Israel points to incorrect international assessments that there is a famine in the enclave and has long accused the United Nations of “incompetence” in distributing aid to the civilian population, saying many of these people are without adequate shelter, food, water and medical care.

That problem has worsened in southern Gaza since Israel launched a military offensive last month in Rafah, the southernmost town where more than a million people had fled to seek shelter from an Israeli offensive further north. Although trucks carrying aid are entering Gaza through a border crossing from southern Israel, the United Nations and other distributors have said they cannot transport the food aid inside the enclave.

While disruptions continue due to ongoing fighting, destroyed roads and fuel shortages, UN and US officials attribute the current slowdown largely to the lawlessness of desperate civilians and criminal gangs who have attacked and looted delivery vehicles.

“The World Food Program and the U.N. drivers are obviously concerned about being attacked,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. Representatives of the Israel Defense Forces and COGAT, the Israeli agency that deals with the occupied territories, who accompanied Gallant to Washington, met with U.S. aid officials here this week to work out a solution, which U.S. officials said includes providing protective equipment and communications technology that Israel is not allowed to allow into Gaza.

In Israel, however, a government spokesman on Wednesday blamed the United Nations for the problem. “We will not learn any lessons from the supporters of the Jew-haters, neither in the 1940s, nor in the 1970s, nor in 2024,” government spokesman David Mencer said in a press conference. “Unfortunately, it is UNRWA and others, and also the World Food Programme, that are spending their time perpetuating this conflict instead of pulling themselves together and doing the work they are actually meant to do,” he said, referring to the two main UN aid agencies in Gaza.

The United States has provided Israel with $3.3 billion annually in security assistance for years. In April, Congress approved Biden’s request for an additional $26 billion for war aid, humanitarian assistance and to support U.S. operations in the region.

But so far the US government has refused to quantify the total amount of security assistance it has provided to Israel since the war began, telling reporters only that Washington is providing its closest ally in the Middle East with the equipment it needs to defend itself.

In the early weeks of the conflict, aid deliveries to Israel were expedited using US military aircraft. In some cases late last year, the US government also invoked emergency powers to bypass Congress and authorize the sale of weapons and ammunition to Israel. The move drew objections from some Democratic lawmakers as the civilian death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly while Israel was stepping up its bombing and ground operations.

In May, the administration made a rare decision to halt the delivery of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs to Israel, citing the high number of civilian casualties. The halt sparked outrage among pro-Israel Democrats, including billionaire Haim Saban, and Republicans such as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, who called it a “de facto arms embargo against Israel.”

At the time, the administration assured members of Congress that huge amounts of military aid would continue to flow to Israel, but refused to publicly disclose the total amount. In an internal memo between Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives and rank-and-file members of Congress obtained by The Washington Post, Democratic leaders said Biden’s suspension of heavy bombings represents “less than 1% of the total military assistance the United States has provided to Israel since the beginning of this conflict,” an early indication of the massive amount of security assistance.

Government officials have said the withheld shipment of the large bombs is still being investigated.

John Hudson contributed to this report.