From the Liveblog of
Friday, July 26, 2024
Top Israeli official says Harris comments could hurt chances for hostage deal
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — A senior Israeli official accuses US Vice President Kamala Harris of putting ongoing efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire agreement at risk with her public statement on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.
“Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure,” the senior official says in a briefing with reporters on condition of anonymity.
The senior official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of there being no perceived gaps between the stances of Israel and the US during his Thursday meeting with US President Joe Biden.
“The more our enemies see that there is complete alignment of positions between Israel and the US, the more we increase the chance of securing the release of the hostages and decrease the chance of a regional war,” the senior official says. “The more the gap widens between our countries, the more we move away from a deal and thus also increase the possibility of a regional escalation.”
The senior Israeli official says the meeting with Biden was productive and helped move efforts to secure a hostage deal in a “positive direction.”
The official does not make a point of describing Netanyahu’s meeting with Harris in the same manner.
According to an Israeli official, Jerusalem had been uncomfortable with Harris’s tone throughout her remarks and thought they overly stressed the importance of ending the war in a manner that appeared to show the US and Israel not in lockstep.
Harris did indeed declare that, “It is time for this war to end,” but specified that it must be done “in a way where Israel is secure.”
Almost the entirety of her five-minute speech consisted of talking points that both she and Biden have used throughout the war, though there was more of an emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” she said.
