Members of the delegation traveling with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu were disappointed following their meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, a high-level source told Jewish Insider.
The senior Israeli diplomat was concerned about Harris’s support for Israel. Other sources said the delegation did not have an encouraging first impression of the vice president.
The two leaders exchanged pleasantries during a photo-op and met for about 40 minutes in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.
After the meeting, Harris delivered remarks where she took a critical stance on Israel’s role in the Gaza war, stating that the Jewish state had a right to defend itself but “how it does so matters.”
“I also 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,” Harris said. “And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there, with over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”
Harris also called the situation in Gaza “devastating” and said “we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies,” adding that she “will not be silent.”
Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel is deliberately starving Gazans during his joint-address to Congress on Wednesday, stating that Israel “enabled 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza” and deliver half a million tons of food.
“If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it, it’s because Hamas is stealing it,” he said, calling the accusations “a complete fabrication” and “utter nonsense.”
Harris said she told Netanyahu that it’s “time to get this deal done,” despite Hamas recently rejecting a ceasefire proposal.
Netanyahu reportedly told President Joe Biden in a meeting Thursday that the more united the United States and Israel are, the greater the chances of securing hostages through negotiations become, according to Jewish Insider.
Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at southern Israel on Friday afternoon near the city of Ashkelon.
Harris added that she supports a two-state solution because it is “the only path that ensures Israel remains, secure, Jewish, an democratic state and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security, and prosperity that they rightly deserve.”
The Israeli delegation was reportedly surprised that Harris took a more aggressive tone in her speech than in their meeting.
In an interview earlier this month, Harris commented on the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests that escalated to violence and caused graduation cancellations, saying the protesters “are expressing exactly the human emotion that is appropriate in response to Gaza.”
“I understand the emotion behind it,” Harris said.
The vice president opted not to preside over Netanyahu’s address in Congress on Wednesday, choosing instead to participate in a convention for the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indiana.
Netanyahu will meet with former President Donald Trump Friday afternoon at Mar-A Lago.
