‘Hogwash’ that Israel is a US client state, says Netanyahu

JD Vance greeting Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after arriving in Jerusalem as part of US efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza. Photograph: Getty Images

On the second day of a US diplomatic push aimed at shoring up the fragile Gaza ceasefire, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed as “hogwash” suggestions that his country was a client state of Washington.

Despite the US providing an estimated 68% of Israel’s foreign-sourced weapons, Netanyahu, when asked on Wednesday if Israel was beholden to Washington, said: “I want to put it very clearly. One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash.”