Kamala Harris to meet Netanyahu privately despite not attending Congress speech due to scheduling conflict

Harris expected to tell Netanyahu: 'It's time to end the war'

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu privately in the White House but will not attend his speech to U.S. Congress on Wednesday, an aide to the VP told media on Monday.

Politico reported that Harris had already committed to attending a sorority event in Indianapolis on that day.

This allows her to circumvent a politically fraught decision of whether to join many other Democrats who announced they would boycott Netanyahu’s speech over their criticism of Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza.

In Harris’ absence, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin will preside over the Congress session during Netanyahu’s speech. This follows the decision by Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-WA.), who would have been next in line, to boycott the speech.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Monday evening. While their planned meeting on Wednesday was cancelled, due to the U.S. President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis, officials have said the president expects to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday.

The meeting between Netanyahu and Harris, who is expected to replace Biden at the head of the Democratic presidential ticket, will be separate from a planned meeting with Biden but is also expected to focus on the war in Gaza and the hostage deal talks.

According to her aide, Harris will reiterate her commitment to Israel’s security and right to defend itself, but will also “convey her view that it is time for the war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Since the start of the war last October, Harris has been taking a harder line approach with Israel than Biden, and often expressed sympathy with the suffering of Palestinians during the conflict.

Harris praised young pro-Palestinian protesters for showing “what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza,” and was among the leading voices opposing Israel’s incursion into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, calling it a “huge mistake.”

According to Politico, the vice president said she believes the U.S. should be “tougher” on Netanyahu.

“In recent months she has had quite a few problematic statements in the context of the war in Gaza,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Mike Herzog, told Ynet News on Tuesday.

“I think we also felt the influence of the more progressive camp in the Democratic Party there, and we felt it more as the political season here heated up. Is this something that will continue to accompany us in the future? We will have to see and of course have a dialogue with her about these things,” he added.