Unnamed Israeli officials reportedly slammed US Vice President Kamala Harris for her plans to skip Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday.
The officials were quoted telling UK newspaper The Telegraph that Harris, who is running for president in November, is “unable to distinguish between good and evil,” and that skipping the prime minister’s speech is “not a way to treat an ally.”
Harris, who is expected to receive her party’s nomination for president following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday, will instead be speaking at an event in Indiana for Zeta Phi Beta, a historically Black sorority founded at the vice president’s alma mater, Howard University.
Harris will, however, meet with Netanyahu privately at the White House on Thursday.
“We anticipate she will underscore her commitment to ensure Israel can defend itself from threats from Iran and Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas,” an aide to the vice president said in a statement about the planned sit-down with Netanyahu.
“She will again condemn Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack on October 7, and horrific sexual violence. She will reiterate her deep concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the loss of innocent life,” the statement added.
Harris did not present her plans as an intentional snub of Netanyahu — her trip “should not be interpreted as a change in her position with regard to Israel,” her campaign said — but she has received criticism from Republicans for declining to preside over the speech in Congress.
“It is outrageous to me and inexcusable that Kamala Harris is boycotting” the speech, said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, on Tuesday.
“This is an historic moment, it’s an important moment for the country, the gravity of the situation cannot be overstated, and yet, Kamala Harris will abandon her seat,” he said, noting that Harris, as vice president, would traditionally be seated at the rostrum during a joint session of Congress.
“The idea that Democrats are making political calculations when our ally is in such dire straits, fighting for its very survival… is unconscionable to us,” Johnson added.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas on Tuesday similarly denounced Harris’s absence from the speech, describing the decision as “pandering to extremist elements in the Democratic party” and saying it was “disgraceful and embarrassing” for Harris to skip the address.
The vice president has not signaled any significant departure from the current administration’s policy on the Middle East, but some observers have pointed to her sharp tone with respect to the humanitarian situation in Gaza as a sign that she may be harsher with Israel than Biden has been.
In November, Harris made headlines when she called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, though her call was in line with the administration’s position, supporting a hostage release in exchange for a pause in fighting.
Similarly, some bristled in March when Harris appeared to take aim at Israel for the problems delivering humanitarian aid to Gazans, saying in a speech, “No excuses.”
And earlier this month, Harris said in an interview that pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters on American college campuses were “showing exactly what the human emotion should be” about the war — though she noted that “there are things some of the protests are saying that I absolutely reject.”
Netanyahu also plans to sit down with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, as well as meet with former president Donald Trump, Harris’s presumptive opponent in November, in Florida on Friday.