Israeli defense chief visits US as Hezbollah tensions rise

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington

As clashes between Israel and Hezbollah escalate, war seems increasingly possible

(Image credit: Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

As Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington on Sunday for several days of talks with top officials, Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his refuted claim that the U.S. was holding up Israeli munition shipments. The Israeli prime minister also said the ground war in Gaza was winding down and he will send more troops to Israel's border with Lebanon as fighting with Hezbollah tips toward war.

Who said what

Netanyahu told Israel's right-wing TV network Channel 14 that decreased fighting in Gaza meant he can send "some of our forces north." He said he hopes the fighting with Hezbollah could be solved by diplomatic means, but "we can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that" unless the militants moves far back from the Israeli border.

Hezbollah warned last week that it has new weapons and intelligence capabilities, and would likely be joined by tens of thousands of other Iran-backed fighters if war broke out. U.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Charles Q. Brown said Iran "would be more inclined to support Hezbollah" than Hamas, and the U.S. would be less able to help Israel against close-range attacks from Lebanon.

Responding to Netanyahu's claims about weapons bottlenecks, the White House said it won't "keep responding to the prime minister's political statements," adding, "we look forward to constructive consultations with Defense Minister Gallant in Washington this week."

What next?

Gallant will discuss the Gaza and Hezbollah situations with his U.S. counterparts but he also has "another, more subtle mission," Semafor said: "To repair the rift between the U.S. and Israel" after Netanyahu's barbs.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.