On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office suggested that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's comments on the humanitarian situation in Gaza might "hinder a deal" for the release of hostages. A senior diplomatic source claimed that this could happen "if Hamas interprets the comments as indicating a rift between the U.S. and Israel."
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Trump, Netanyahu, Harris and Biden
(Photo: AP Photo/Paul Sancya, Jim WATSON / AFP, ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
However, a review of the comments made by the Democratic presidential candidate shows that they are not different from the statements made by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since the beginning of the war. Meanwhile, sources familiar with the negotiations said this evening that "the negotiating team is concerned that the demands Netanyahu has introduced are meant to derail the process." According to them, "He believes that if he hardens his stance, Hamas will fold. But he is taking a dangerous gamble with the lives of the hostages. There is no time."
Since the outbreak of the war, senior U.S. officials, including Biden and Harris, have repeatedly mentioned the harm to the civilian population in Gaza, the humanitarian situation, and the need for increased aid, as well as the need to end the war. After her meeting with Netanyahu, which Harris described as "frank and constructive."
She noted that she emphasized her "commitment to Israel and its security," detailing: "I told him that I will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. I have had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security, and to the people of Israel."
VP Harris after meeting with Netanyahu
(צילום: רויטרס )
Harris later said that she "expressed with the Prime Minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians, and I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there. With over two million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic level of acute food insecurity. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent."
Biden said Gaza response "Over the top"
President Biden has said similar statements in the past including his February 9 statement which said, "I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard, to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s gotta stop. Number one." Biden even said that the Israeli response in Gaza was "over the top," while assuring that the "U.S. wants to see Hamas defeated, but Israel must do so while protecting civilians."
On February 12, Biden criticized Israel again during his joint statement with Jordan's King Abdullah. "The past four months, as the war has raged, the Palestinian people have also suffered unimaginable pain and loss. Too many — too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children."
Biden says Israel response was over the top
"And hundreds of thousands have no access to food, water, or other basic services. Many families have lost not just one but many relatives and cannot mourn for them or even bury them because it’s not safe to do so. It’s heart-breaking. Every innocent life [lost] in Gaza is a tragedy, just as every innocent life lost in Israel is a tragedy as well," he added.
On April 10, amidst uncertainty regarding the operation in Rafah and rising American pressure to reach a cease-fire, Biden attacked Netanyahu's conduct, saying: "I think what he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach." In an interview with Univision, Biden said, "What I'm calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country."
About a month later, on May 19, the American President said in a speech in Atlanta that there is a "humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” He renewed his call for an immediate cease-fire and said he is actively working to find a solution. "It’s one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about it," Biden said. "I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well."
Trump urged to "Finish it up and do it quickly"
Donald Trump has also repeatedly called for the end of the war in Gaza. On March 17, for example, he said in an interview with Fox News that Israel should end the war and conveyed a message to Netanyahu: "You have to finish it up and do it quickly and get back to the world of peace. We need peace in the world. We need peace in the Middle East."
In another interview with Time magazine at the end of April, the former president criticized Netanyahu’s conduct during the war, saying about the October 7 terror attack that "happened on his watch,” said Trump, adding that Netanyahu has rightfully been criticized for failing to prevent the Hamas attack.
"They have the most sophisticated equipment," Trump said of Israel. “They had everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed."
A few days after October 7, Rolling Stone magazine reported that Trump had privately called for Netanyahu’s ouster. According to the report, Trump expressed support for removing Netanyahu from power in several phone calls he made with pro-Israel Republican figures since the Hamas terror attack. According to the report, based on two sources familiar with the conversations, the former president said the Knesset should "impeach" Netanyahu because the terror attack occurred on his watch. The sources also said Trump expressed hope that if he were re-elected, Netanyahu would no longer be Prime Minister by the time he entered the White House in January 2025.