Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Thursday that “the war in Gaza is not an either-or issue,” and did not see a clear moral distinction between Israel and Hamas terrorists.
She made the remarks after a 40-minute meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (emphasis added):
Well, that’s all for now. It is important for Americans to remember that the war in Gaza is not a binary. But too often the debate is framed in binary terms, when the reality is simply not that. So I ask Americans to encourage efforts to acknowledge the complexity, nuance, and history of this region. Let us all condemn terror and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians. And let us all condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and hatred of every kind.
Harris appeared to conflate the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict (which is certainly a complex case of two nationalisms claiming the same land, a tragic clash of “righteousness versus right”) with Hamas’ war on terror.
Hamas attacked Israel without provocation on October 7, brutally killing 1,200 innocent people, taking more than 250 hostages, and raping both men and women. Harris acknowledged this in her statement, but refused to conclude that the fight to eradicate Hamas is a battle of clear-cut moral justifications between good and evil.
Speaking at a special joint session of Parliament on Wednesday, which Harris was absent from, Netanyahu said:
The world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, an Iranian terrorist axis faces off against America, Israel and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between barbarism and civilization. It is a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.
For the forces of civilization to prevail, America and Israel must unite, because if we unite, a very simple thing will happen: we win and they lose.
And my friends, I come today to assure you of one thing: we will prevail.
Netanyahu subtly rebuked Harris, pointing out that Israel had defeated Hamas in the southern Gaza town of Rafah without significant civilian casualties. Harris had warned that there would be heavy casualties among Palestinian civilians there and warned Israel not to enter the city. “I studied the maps,” Harris said at the time.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
