US REVIEWS ARMS TRANSFER TO ISRAEL ‘FOR THE UNSHAKABLE TIES’
Washington, 18 Shawal 1435/15 August 2014 (MINA) – The U.S. State Department confirmed Thursday that the Obama administration was taking additional way in supplying weapons to Israel in the ongoing strikes to the besieged Gaza Strip.
There was “no change in policy” regarding the U.S. supply of arms to Israel, she said, adding, “The additional care we are taking is not permanent. …The U.S. commitment to Israel’s security is unshakable,” said Deputy State Department spokesperson Marie Harf, according to Haaretz reports quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
“Due to the crisis in Gaza we took additional care like we would take in any crisis. We took steps to look at (munitions) deliveries. … We wanted to look at things a little bit harder,” she reiterated.
Harf said that the U.S. was concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza eventhough it continues supplying arms to the Zionist entity. “We thought Israel could do more to prevent civilian casualties,” she said.
The latest crisis started when the White House instructed the Pentagon to put on hold a transfer of Hellfire missiles for Apache attack helicopters that Israel had requested for its strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday morning reported that the White House was angry at Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces over the attacks on Gaza, especially concerning the high number of civilian casualties.
Senior officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz.on Thursday that Israel in recent days has been holding discussions with the American administration, including at the very highest levels, in an attempt to resolve the crisis between the two countries.
“We are speaking with them to try and return the situation to its previous [status],” said one official. The crisis has yet to be resolved, the official said.
The talks between the parties are being conducted at the normal staff levels of the Prime Minister’s Bureau, Defense Ministry and Israeli Embassy in Washington on the Israeli side, and the White House, U.S. State Department and Pentagon on the American. Nonetheless, it seems the matter has also been raised at the higher levels of the political leadership.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama held a telephone conversation Wednesday afternoon, and later Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke on the phone with his counterpart, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. The Israelis initiated both calls, which were attempts to resolve the crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations.(T/P03/P04)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
