Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a press conference this evening (Tuesday) that soldiers were killed during the war because the IDF did not have enough ammunition to carry out artillery suppression or aerial bombings on areas where Hamas terrorists were - and he leveled accusations at the Biden administration for imposing an arms embargo.
""At a certain point in the war, we didn't have enough ammunition and fighters fell, heroes fell. Part of the loss of ammunition was a result of the embargo," Netanyahu said. "I decided that we would never get into a situation like this again. We must have an independent arms industry as much as possible. This embargo situation changed beyond recognition with the entry of President Trump's administration.".
President Biden's envoy Amos Hochstein said in response to Channel 12: "Netanyahu is neither telling the truth nor showing favoritism toward President Biden, who saved Israel at the most vulnerable moment in its history.".
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Brett McGurk, a senior adviser to former US President Joe Biden, also attacked Netanyahu. "This statement by Netanyahu is completely false," he said. "Biden left office with a ceasefire in Gaza and the hostages returning home, a ceasefire in Lebanon with Hezbollah defeated, and Iran at its greatest weakness since 1979 after two failed missile launches - thanks to the deployment of US military forces and a coordinated response that destroyed Iran's air defense systems.".
McGurk added: "President Biden's commitment to Israel's security, including American military assistance, has been unwavering throughout the war.".
Senior political commentator Fellow He published a detailed response to the matter - and wrote:
""And now for the facts - Biden imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel, stopped the transfer of bulldozers that Israel paid for in a way that led to soldiers being put at risk and their deaths, caused the IDF to enter Rafah when the tanks did not have a belly full of shells, this also led to soldiers being put at risk and their deaths.".
Segal added: "Biden opposed the elimination of Nasrallah, his defense minister cursed in the phone call with Gallant when he told him that our planes had eliminated the Hezbollah leader. Iran was not at a low point when Biden left, but on the contrary - confident enough to launch two volleys at Israel.".
He said, "The ceasefire that Biden misses was a goal for him, not a means.".
The commentator concluded cynically: "We are all over a year old, so we were here when it happened, there is no need to smear us with lies and propaganda.".
also Doron Kadosh, The military correspondent for Galei Tzahal presented the facts:
• With Israel's entry into Rafah in May 2024, contrary to the opinion of the US, the Biden administration decided to impose an embargo on both heavy bombs weighing one ton - MK-84 type, and on D-9 type engineering bulldozers.
• In both cases, these are weapons and tools necessary for destroying buildings, neutralizing explosive devices and booby-trapped houses, and therefore, as far as I understand, Netanyahu is linking this arms embargo to the deaths of fighters.
• When Israel did not have enough engineering tools to neutralize charges and open roads, and there were not enough heavy bombs to drop on booby-trapped buildings - the IDF did pay a heavy price in casualties during the ground maneuver as a result of charges and booby-traps.
• It would be neither true nor responsible to say that in all cases where fighters fell from IEDs and traps - it happened because of the arms embargo. Of course not. But it is certainly possible to say that if Israel had more heavy bombs and more D-9 bulldozers, it would have been possible to activate more precautionary mechanisms in the face of Hamas' IED challenge.
• To understand the magnitude of the challenge posed by IEDs in the ground maneuver, here is data I collected during the war that indicates the magnitude of the challenge posed by IEDs and booby-trapped structures: Since the resumption of fighting in March 2025 until the ceasefire in October 2025, 61 fighters have fallen in the ground maneuver in Gaza. 38 of them, that is, more than 60% - as a result of enemy IEDs.
