America takes steps to guarantee Israel’s security, but receives nothing in return, Gates said. Report: Gates says U.S. gets zero from Israel

Robert Gates, the now-retired secretary of defense, argued directly to President Obama that Israel is an ungrateful ally, a new report says.

In a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee held not long before Gates’ retirement, the former secretary of defense argued that America had taken many steps to guarantee Israel’s security, but had received nothing in return, reports Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg.


Under the Obama administration, the United States has assisted Israel with intelligence, missile-defense technology and weapons.

Gates said that not only was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ungrateful, but he was also endangering his country by holding control of the West Bank. Goldberg’s sources say that this advice was not met with opposing opinions from other members of the Committee.

Tensions have flared up between the White House and Netanyahu’s government since May, when the Prime Minister lectured the President on the existential challenges facing Israel on live television, at a press conference meant to illustrate the issues on which the two agreed.

This incident led the White House Chief of Staff, William Daley, to issue an angry call to the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also expressed irritation.

Vice President Joe Biden was also reportedly unhappy after his trip to Israel was marked by an announcement that the Israeli government was going to build new apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem.

Gates has previously been upset with Netanyahu over disagreements on U.S. arms sales to Arab allies. Netanyahu told Gates that this would endanger Israel in a tone that displeased the then-secretary of defense.