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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
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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