Netanyahu Angry After Meeting With Vice President Harris

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angered by Vice President Kamala Harris' on-camera statement following their Thursday meeting, and he now says the words threaten to sabotage any potential peace deal with Hamas.

Diplomats speaking with Axios said Netanyahu's criticism stems from Harris speaking as if a ceasefire and hostage exchange would mark the final end of the war in Gaza, whereas Israel's position has all along been that counter-Hamas operations could resume even if a hostage deal is reached.

Following the Harris-Netanyahu meeting which lasted about 40 minutes, the Vice President said "It is time for this war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination."

She added: "And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu it is time to get this deal done. Let's get the deal done. So we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let's bring the hostages home. And let's provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people."

Israeli officials told Axios that the Biden meeting was much more constructive than the one with Harris, but that they were "caught off guard" by Harris' follow-up statement:  

• The Israeli officials said Netanyahu and his team were caught off guard by Harris' on-camera statement and taken aback by its tone, which they said sounded much more critical than Biden's.
• "Harris' statement after the meeting was much more critical than what she told Netanyahu in the meeting," one Israeli official claimed.

According to more, "The Israeli official also said Netanyahu was unhappy with the fact that Harris criticized Israel publicly for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and for killing civilians, especially at the current timing amid the hostage deal negotiations."

But an aide to the vice president said he has no idea what the Israeli side is talking about and emphasized the private meeting between Harris and Netanyahu was "serious and collegial." 

So for now, it appears Netanyahu is ready to blame lack of progress in a ceasefire on VP Harris, and the current chaos of American politics after Biden bowed out of the presidential race. Israeli officials have tried to push a narrative that says a truce deal is impossible if there is any daylight in messaging between Washington and Tel Aviv.

But what Israel wants is a perpetual 'blank check' from the US taxpayer (akin to Ukraine's Zelensky), and makes a lot of noise and complains bitterly in any instance where US leadership is not 100% on board, or issues some degree of criticism of Israeli military action.