Top Israel officials to meet with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan Thursday
Written by ABC AUDIO on June 20, 2024
(NEW YORK) — Senior administration officials tell ABC News that top Netanyahu advisers — Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer — were traveling from Israel to Washington to meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House on Thursday.
The move comes amid new tensions between the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a video he made in which he complains that the U.S is blocking arms shipments amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza — a claim the U.S. denies
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will also meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the coming days.
But another high-level meeting focused on Israel’s security, including the threat from Iran, has been canceled by the U.S., according to administration officials. The U.S. is looking to reschedule it. That is a formal meeting with many people led by Sullivan and Hanegbi.
While Biden administration officials are saying that that high-level meeting was never fully finalized on the schedule, other sources inside the White House say there was frustration over Netanyahu’s video and it did affect the decision not to hold the meeting.
Administration officials said that what Netanyahu said in his video is “beyond the pale,” no other country is supporting Israel more than the U.S. and the U.S. only pausing one shipment of 2,000 pound bombs over concerns the imprecise weapons could cause extensive civilian deaths but that everything else is still flowing.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
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