Connect with us

RSS

Vice President Harris Threatened Israel — and Democrats Must Respond

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as part of the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, in Washington, U.S., May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Vice President Kamala Harris threatened Israel on Sunday, in a discussion with ABC News Congressional correspondent Rachel Scott. During the interview, Harris said that she has “studied the maps” in Gaza, and warned Israel against conducting a major military operation in Rafah. When pressed on the US response should Israel proceed with its expected military campaign, Harris refused to deny the possibility of US consequences. She said that any major operation in Rafah would be a “huge mistake.”

After the October 7 massacre, the Biden administration said it would unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, secure the Jewish State, and prevent any such attacks from occurring in the future. But the administration’s suggestion that Israel refrain from destroying the remaining Hamas terror battalions operating in Rafah represents a stunning reorientation of policy.

Despite assurances from Israel’s government that a plan is in place to secure the safety of Palestinian civilians, the overwhelming majority of whom still back Hamas’ actions, Harris’ persistence in undercutting Israel as it tries to eradicate a terrorist network and secure the release of hostages, including five Americans, underscores the schism manufactured by the Vice President between the US and Israel.

Israeli political and military figures from across the political spectrum have stated that in order to defeat Hamas — and make the entire war worth it — Israel must enter Rafah. Prime Minister Netanyahu has reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to launch an offensive in Rafah in the absence of American backing. Some reports indicate that Hamas is regrouping in northern Gaza. Letting Hamas operate freely in the south would endanger the entire war — and indeed Israel’s very security — and risk the gains made by Israel Defense Forces. It also reduces the probability of finding the remaining hostages, some of whom are believed to be held by factions other than Hamas while being kept captive inside Rafah. The IDF’s rescue of two hostages, Fernando Marman and Louis Har, from Rafah in February further confirms the critical role that the city holds in ensuring Israel’s complete victory over Hamas.

Although Harris is often happy to criticize Israel, Egypt — which shares a border with southern Gaza — is almost never urged to do its part in aiding the Palestinian population. Instead, the Vice President’s careful avoidance of mentioning Egypt bolstering its defenses against an influx of Palestinians mirrors administration efforts to extract concessions from Israel while demanding little from our Arab ally, which has received approximately $1.3 billion annually for nearly 50 years.

Indeed, the former California Senator seems to have found her footing as one of the top Democrats dispatched to issue scathing anti-Israel statements. Earlier this month, while speaking at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” while rebuking, with palpable emotion, the Jewish state’s alleged failure to stem the “humanitarian catastrophe” within the Gaza Strip.

The Vice President’s speech proceeds her repugnant behavior at George Mason University back in 2021, after a student falsely claimed that Israel is guilty of “ethnic genocide and displacement of people.” Lacking the sophistication or wisdom once expected of a sitting Vice President, Harris answered by nodding along agreeably, while proclaiming that “your truth cannot be suppressed.” 

And the problem doesn’t seem limited to Harris herself. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — who previously served as Harris’ chief of staff — has made troubling comments about Israel, and also downplayed antisemitism in the United States.

The administration’s abstention from Monday’s United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza is evidence that Harris’ admonishments of Israel align with the administration’s intensification of creating more daylight between the US and the Jewish state. For their part, Jewish organizations and Democrats have stayed largely quiet on the government’s dangerous pivot against Israel. At a time when the Jewish nation is fighting for its very survival, and with the majority of the anti-Israel animus emanating from the political left, it will soon be increasingly difficult for groups claiming to uphold Jewish interests to ignore the damaging and hostile anti-Israel hits such as those espoused by Harris. Legacy Jewish institutions have preferred to remain on the sidelines when faced with hostility from the left, choosing to buffer any disappointment in Democrats’ Israel stance with a passionate defense of past pro-Israel policies.

To date, Harris’ targeting of Israel during her ABC interview appears to have gone unnoticed by Congressional Democrats. Yet, in fairness, if Jewish Americans expect statements of solidarity from lawmakers, our Jewish leaders must start by acting far less charitably towards politicians like Harris, and begin governing with the moral clarity that our current climate warrants.

The tenor of August’s Democratic National Convention will grant Americans an opportunity to determine whether Harris, whose term has been punctuated with an expanding proclivity for showmanship over a deepening appreciation for knowledge, will use the platform to smear Israel further, or if Democrats outside the White House will finally find the courage and blunt the Vice President’s criticism of Israel.

Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt

The post Vice President Harris Threatened Israel — and Democrats Must Respond first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News