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Lapid sets up separate communication channel with US

While the Israeli prime minister blames the US administration and the IDF for his political failure in the Gaza incursion, US officials prefer to communicate with Finance Minister Yair Lapid or Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
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It seems to me that at least in our time, this is unprecedented: On the morning of Aug. 14, Israel time, the US administration leaked to a reporter from the Wall Street Journal that the White House had put a hold on the delivery of Hellfire missiles for Apache helicopters during the Operation Protective Edge fighting.

According to the leak, the White House instructed the military to consult it before making any weaponry or ammunition shipments to Israel, because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team are “reckless and untrustworthy.” The Americans further said that Netanyahu was maneuvering between Congress and the White House and that he seriously undercut Secretary of State John Kerry and US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro through “malicious” leaks. In response, senior Israeli diplomatic officials called the Obama administration “weak and naïve.”

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