JERUSALEM, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's plan to send surplus COVID-19 vaccines to allied countries was halted on Thursday following legal and political difficulties, officials said.

In this photo taken on February 22, 2021 a paramedic with Israel's Magen David Adom medical services displays a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at an IKEA branch in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. (File photo: AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed in a statement that the plan has been suspended pending the legal scrutiny by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

The suspension came following criticism and political opposition to what has been called "vaccine diplomacy."

Earlier on Thursday, Benny Gantz, Israel's defense minister and alternate prime minister, urged the government to halt the plan.

Gantz said that Netanyahu's plan to send small shipments of vaccines to 19 countries was carried out without discussion in the cabinet and before its security and diplomatic ramifications have been studied.

"Netanyahu's move has been done in an undemocratic manner and by bypassing procedures," he said in a statement.