Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged in comments on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers died during the war in Gaza because of a Biden-era \u201cembargo\u201d on weaponry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe paid a very heavy price in the war,\u201d Netanyahu said during an appearance in Jerusalem. \u201cPart of it is that at a certain point, we simply didn\u2019t have enough ammunition, and people fell, heroes fell. Part of the loss of ammunition was also a result of the embargo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Biden administration held back some heavy arms from Israel in mid-2024<\/a> in an effort to pressure Netanyahu not to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It pledged to continue supplying other weapons.<\/p>\n Both Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, who resumed sending the heavy weapons in March 2025, have said the Biden-era restrictions amounted to an \u201cembargo\u201d and have charged that the Biden administration held back more arms than it said.<\/p>\n Biden administration officials immediately decried the comments, saying that Netanyahu was lying and emphasizing Biden\u2019s personal and political support for Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cNetanyahu is both not telling the truth and ungrateful to a president that literally saved Israel at its most vulnerable moment,\u201d Amos Hochstein, whom Biden appointed as a Middle East envoy during the Gaza war, told Axios, in one example. He reiterated the point on X<\/a>, where he noted that the Biden administration sent $20 billion in military aid to Israel and also participated twice in deflecting Iranian missile attacks.<\/p>\n The comments come at a delicate time for Netanyahu. The retrieval earlier this week of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, adds pressure for him to support a new phase in the Gaza ceasefire which has the potential to become a wedge between him and Trump.<\/p>\n At the same time, the prime minister is facing potential political turmoil at home, with elections required before the end of the year and a budget process getting underway Wednesday that could trigger earlier elections if lawmakers cannot reach a deal over haredi Orthodox army enlistment.<\/p>\n