- Harris calls out Gaza suffering, says ‘I will not be silent’
- Israeli leader’s visit meant to shore up US support for war
After a Washington visit brought him a not-so-veiled rebuke from presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now in Florida looking for a warmer embrace from Donald Trump. Netanyahu was set to meet Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday, looking to patch things up with the once and possibly future president. Trump was furious in 2020 after Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his victory in an election that the ex-president claimed was stolen. Though he’s sent conciliatory signals, Trump may not be inclined to let Netanyahu off the hook this time around. Even Republicans, who have been far more sympathetic to Israel’s war against Hamas than Democrats, have acknowledged the growing concerns about the rising death toll in the Gaza Strip. Early Friday, Trump wrote on social media that he looked forward to greeting Netanyahu but was looking “even more forward to achieving Peace in the Middle East.” He posted a letter he received from Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and a frequent target of Netanyahu’s scorn.
Trump has said Israel should be allowed to “finish the job” against Hamas, but he told Fox News in an interview “they are getting decimated with this publicity.”
The equivocal statement from Trump, along with the less-than-wholehearted backing Netanyahu got from Democrats this week, highlighted how the trip to the US — meant to bolster support for the war — risked isolating the Israeli leader even more. He scheduled the visit in what seemed like a different era — before the assassination attempt against Trump and Biden’s decision to cede to the Democratic nomination and endorse Harris.
US Vice President Kamala Harris says she pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire and warned him about the civilian death toll in Gaza during a meeting – their first since she entered the 2024 race for the White House.
US leaders are now laser-focused on the election and political pressure around the war is mounting. Trump hasn’t given the backing he craves and Harris has been more willing to speak critically about Israel’s conduct than Biden.
Netanyahu and top aides fear that Harris’s comments about Palestinian suffering could drive Hamas to harden the terms of a hostage and cease-fire deal, according to a senior Israeli official who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Israel hopes her statement after meeting Netanyahu on Thursday won’t be interpreted by Hamas as evidence of a gap that could make a deal more remote.
After the meeting, far-right Israeli cabinet minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who bluntly came out and endorsed Trump for the presidency earlier this week, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “There will be no truce, Madam Candidate.”