Harris says she pressured Netanyahu to get cease-fire deal done

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris said she pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire and warned him about the civilian death toll in Gaza during a meeting — their first since she entered the 2024 race for the White House.

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris told reporters after meeting with the Israeli leader on Thursday.

Harris said she had “made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation” in Gaza.

“With over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity, and over half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,” 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.”

The comments from Harris struck a far more strident tone than the language President Joe Biden has customarily used while discussing the conflict, suggesting an alternate approach the vice president — now likely the Democratic presidential nominee — may adopt.

Democrats are heading into the November election against Republican Donald Trump with the conflict in Gaza threatening to fracture their electoral coalition. Harris has expressed more empathy for Palestinian suffering than Biden throughout the war.

Harris on Thursday acknowledged the domestic political tensions over the war in Gaza.

“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.

Netanyahu’s visit has put a spotlight on those intraparty tensions. He delivered a fiery address to Congress on Wednesday that defended Israel’s war, dismissed concerns about the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza and urged the U.S. to fast-track weapons to help his country achieve victory.

The speech was boycotted by many top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and drew massive protests near the U.S. Capitol. Video footage showed some demonstrators pulling down a U.S. flag near Washington Union Station and setting it on fire. Netanyahu in his speech called the protesters “useful idiots” for Hamas’ backer, Iran.

Harris has denounced what she called “despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” in Washington. Harris said in a statement she supported the “right to peacefully protest” but condemned the burning of the American flag, saying “it should never be desecrated in that way.”

Netanyahu met Biden earlier Thursday, thanking the president for his support of Israel and pledging to continue working together at a meeting marking the U.S. leader’s first sit-down with a foreign counterpart since forgoing reelection.

“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said in the Oval Office.

Netanyahu said the two had “known each other for 40 years,” adding, “I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.”

Despite the public display of goodwill, the two leaders have clashed over Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union.

The Israeli leader is also seeking to foster ties with Trump, with a planned visit Friday to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The two enjoyed a close relationship during Trump’s presidency but they split over Netanyahu’s recognition of Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Netanyahu’s address to Congress made no direct mention of a cease-fire proposal put forward by Biden. Senior administration officials said Wednesday that negotiations for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are continuing. Netanyahu, however, repeated his stance that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed.

Republicans have assailed the vice president for not attending Netanyahu’s speech, casting it as a show of disrespect. Harris would have sat behind him on the dais, but was in Indianapolis for a campaign event.