'I will not be silent': VP Kamala Harris defends Israel but laments 'suffering' in Gaza

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does so matters.

Speaking to reporters after what she called a “frank” meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris said the Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered the war in Gaza when it massacred 1,200 people in October.

But Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden's exit from the race on Sunday, said she also remains concerned about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, “including the death of far too many innocent civilians.”

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating – the images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” she said. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”

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Harris’ meeting with Netanyahu followed an earlier meeting on Thursday between the Israeli prime minister and Biden in the Oval Office. On Wednesday, Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in which he slammed his Democratic critics in Washington and pro-Palestinian protesters across the U.S.

Harris’ meeting with Netanyahu was her first sit-down with a controversial foreign leader since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president this week. Netanyahu and the Biden administration's policy toward Israel have sparked outrage in the left flank of the party and contributed to the weakening of Biden as a candidate.  Voters, particularly those who are Jewish, are watching closely for clues to see how she would handle the conflict in the Middle East if she wins the presidency.

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Harris, whose husband is Jewish, said she stressed to the prime minister that it is time to finish the cease-fire and hostage plan that Biden detailed at the end of May. Negotiators have continued to pursue the deal in hopes it will bring about an eventual end to the war.

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” she said. “So to everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you. Let's get the deal done.”

Harris said she also remains committed to a path forward that could lead to a two-state solution.

“I know right now it is hard to conceive of that prospect, but a two-state solution is the only path that ensures Israel remains a secure Jewish and democratic state and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security and prosperity that they rightly deserve,” she said.

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: VP Kamala Harris defends Israel but laments 'suffering' in Gaza