Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. president Donald Trump attacked Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday claiming her meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "terrible and insulting."
According to Trump, who met with Netanyahu in Florida on Friday, "Her ineptness will greatly prolong the war [in Gaza] and delay the hostage release." Trump also mentioned the fact Harris avoided presiding over the Senate during Netanyahu's speech in Congress and added, "The same people that embarrassed us in Afghanistan with their gross incompetence, are the ones who are telling Israel not to fight any longer with Hamas.
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Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their meeting
(Photo: Amos Ben Gershom)
“Forget October 7th, they say! Any Jewish person that votes for Kamala, or a Democrat, should immediately have their head examined,” he wrote.
Harris said in a statement following her meeting with Netanyahu that the two had a "frank and constructive meeting" and reiterated her "unwavering commitment" to Israel's security. Harris added, "The difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza cannot be ignored."
On Friday, Netanyahu's office suggested that 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."
Trump, for his part, attacked Harris in front of Netanyahu, saying that "Harris's comments weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel."
In October last year, Trump sharply criticized Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli intelligence for their handling of the crisis. Just five days after the October 7 attack, Trump remarked that "Israel was not prepared" and expressed his disappointment in Netanyahu.
He 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."