After meeting Netanyahu, US VP says she lamented ‘death of far too many innocent civilians’; top Israeli official: Remarks imply Israel-US gaps, will lead Hamas to toughen stance
TOI STAFF and AGENCIESToday, 10:45 am
US Vice President Kamala Harris insisted Thursday that she would not be “silent” on suffering in Gaza while also touting her pro-Israel bona fides, in comments made shortly after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her remarks drew furious Israeli complaints that they could complicate efforts to reach a deal with the Hamas terror group to free hostages and end the war in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters after what she called a “frank and constructive” meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, Harris said it was time to end the “devastating” war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s brutal October 7 attack on Israel, in comments that some saw as a sign of a possible shift in Washington’s stance as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president takes center stage.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris told reporters. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
Netanyahu, who has been in Washington since Monday, met separately with US President Joe Biden and with Harris in the White House on Thursday. He was also slated to meet the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump on Friday.
In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, the premier once again stressed the need for a “total victory” over Hamas. The premier’s speech disappointed hostage relatives who hoped he would commit to a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, talks for which have been said to be in the home stretch. Some families of American-Israeli hostages who met with Biden and Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday expressed hope and optimism about a potential deal.
In her press conference after the Netanyahu meeting, Harris also said “Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters.”
The vice president noted that she pressed Netanyahu on the “dire” situation in Gaza during their 40-minute meeting in Washington, while also stressing the importance of reaching a deal to free hostages and end the war.
Harris said she “expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering and Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.”
Harris said there had been “hopeful movement in the talks to secure” a hostage deal, which she said would end the war and pave the way for Palestinian statehood.
“As I just told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said.
While most of Harris’s five-minute speech consisted of talking points that both she and Biden have used throughout the war, many noted that there had been a greater emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“It is time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination,” Harris said.
Harris also stressed pro-Israel points during her remarks, branding Hamas a “brutal terror organization” that triggered the ongoing war with its October 7 onslaught, and noting that it included “horrific acts of sexual violence.”
The vice president made a point of reading out the names of all eight American-Israel hostages still held captive by Hamas — something no other US official has done.
Though Harris, unlike Biden, did not hold a meeting with hostage families, she noted that she has met several times with relatives of captives, telling them, “They are not alone, and I stand with them.”
Harris also talked up her long history of support for Israel, recalling how she raised money as a child to plant trees in the Jewish state.
“From when I was a young girl, collecting funds to plant trees for Israel, to my time in the United States Senate and now at the White House, I’ve had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security, and to the people of Israel,” Harris said.
The story has been a go-to anecdote for her in engagements with pro-Israel audiences, much as Biden has consistently trotted out his story about meeting former prime minister Golda Meir as a young senator.
Harris has been more outspoken on Gaza in the past than Biden and there had been speculation that she could adopt a tougher approach on Israel. Officials earlier denied there is any “daylight” between her and Biden.
But her Thursday remarks did not go down well in Israel.
‘Is the harm to Palestinian civilians really the problem?’
A top Israeli official briefing reporters anonymously argued that Jerusalem had been uncomfortable with Harris’s tone throughout her remarks and accused her of overly stressing the importance of ending the war in a manner that appeared to show gaps between the positions of the US and Israel.
“Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure,” the senior official said.
The official noted that Netanyahu had stressed the importance of ensuring that both countries be seen as totally aligned.
“The more the gap widens between our countries, the more we move away from a deal and thus also increase the possibility of a regional escalation,” said the senior official.
The official also took issue with Harris’s highlighting of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that the vice president was exaggerating the issue and that in their meeting, the premier had offered the vice president a “detailed factual” account of the situation in Gaza that contradicted Harris’s concerns.
They added that Harris’s talk of the need to end the war was unhelpful as Jerusalem is seeking to ensure that the hostage deal allows it to continue fighting after phase one of the agreement, a six-week ceasefire in which Hamas would release the remaining living female, elderly and sick hostages.
Hostages’ relatives who met Thursday with Biden and Netanyahu said the US president had given them hope that the coming days would bring a development in the ceasefire-for-hostages talks.
“Is the harm to Palestinian civilians really the problem right now? What is Hamas supposed to think when it hears this?” the Israeli official asked, suggesting such talk would lead the terror group to toughen its demands. “I hope it won’t lead to regression in the talks because we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Despite the Israeli official’s disappointment with Harris’s public remarks, they speculated that ties with the White House won’t deteriorate as she takes a larger role.
“We are on a path of cooperation and closing gaps…. but that is why Harris’s press conference was so problematic,” said the official.
‘Don’t know what they’re talking about’
An aide to the vice president later denied to The Times of Israel that Harris’s comments had departed from her and Biden’s previous statements on the war in Gaza, hitting back at the senior Israeli official’s comments.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” said the vice president’s aide, stressing that Harris’s meeting with Netanyahu had been “serious and collegial.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu: It’s time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done, and this is what the vice president said publicly as well,” the aide said.
“Her public comments on Thursday tracked with her previous comments on the conflict. She started her Thursday remarks with rock-solid support for Israel and then she expressed her concern about civilian causalities and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as she always does,” the aide continued.
Smotrich, Ben Gvir chastise VP
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners openly slammed Harris over her remarks.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X that the proposed deal represented a “surrender to [Hamas military leader Yahya] Sinwar, an immediate end to the war in a way that will let Hamas regroup and the abandonment of most of the hostages.”
“Kamala Harris has shown the world what I have been saying for weeks — what is really behind the deal,” wrote Smotrich. “[We] must not fall into this trap!”
Fellow ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also rebutted Harris, tweeting: “There won’t be a stop to the war, Mrs. Candidate.”
Both ministers have repeatedly threatened to withdraw their parties from Netanyahu’s coalition if the premier were to sign off on the agreement, which would topple the government.
Talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar have so far failed to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages held there since a weeklong ceasefire in November that saw Hamas release 105 hostages in return for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
It is believed that 115 hostages remain in Gaza, 111 of whom were abducted on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. The Israel Defense Force has confirmed that 39 of the hostages in Gaza have been killed.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Harris’s remarks on the war were subject to extra scrutiny, with some sensing in her comments a shift in the administration’s tone toward Israel and Gaza. US officials have dismissed the narrative that Harris’s stance on Israel differs from Biden’s or that she played a “bad cop” role in the administration vis-a-vis Israel.
Harris’s outspoken comments came in stark contrast to the largely amiable greetings between Biden and Netanyahu earlier in the day, even if it masked months of tensions between the two men as well as questions over the US president’s relevance.
“From a proud Zionist Jew to a proud Zionist Irish American, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said in tribute to Biden at the start of the Oval Office meeting. “And I look forward to discussing with you today and working with you in the months ahead.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/harris-i-wont-stay-silent-on-gaza-suffering-israel-charges-shes-harming-deal-chances/.