The Israel Heritage Foundation (IHF) is calling on US Vice President Kamala Harris to apologize, after she demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in remarks last Sunday while appearing to blame Israel for the “inhumane” conditions in Gaza.
“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” said Harris in the remarks in Alabama, though she did call for the release of the Israeli hostages by Hamas.
IHF criticized Harris’ remarks, saying in a statement, “They are not only false and misleading but dangerous for American Jews, who live in an environment of rising violent antisemitism, and equally dangerous for all Americans.”
“Harris’s comments are shocking because Israel has been left with no choice after Israel was attacked by thousands of Hamas terrorists on October 7th that led to over 1,200 dead, many injured and over 200 hostages taken by Hamas. With Hamas vowing to kill more Jews given the opportunity, Israel must eradicate them and protect its citizens,” IHF added.
“The Vice President also omits any mention of Iran and its terror proxies, which continue to terrorize Israel and the entire Middle East region and are responsible for the death of American soldiers.”
IHF said that Harris’ call for a ceasefire “has actually increased the chances of no ceasefire because it is Hamas that has rejected a ceasefire due to what they properly see as a weakening of US support for Israel. Initially the US supported Israel’s goal to wipe out Hamas, which remains strong in the city of Rafah. It is where the remaining hostages are likely being held and where Israel already militarily rescued two hostages. However, Vice President Harris appears to be signaling that the US no longer supports the military elimination of Hamas, without which there can be no peace.”
“Importantly, Hamas claims that 30 thousand Gazans have died since October 7th. Israel believes 12,000 of those are Hamas combatants. Another 8,000 Gazans included in the Hamas number can be attributed to those who usually die of natural causes during the same five-month period. Israel further believes around 2000 more Gazans were killed by Hamas, either by their own misfired missiles or by Hamas terrorists during their confiscation of 70% of all humanitarian aid. Accordingly, about 8,000 Gazans were killed inadvertently by Israel, which is an unparalleled low count of civilians killed in the history of urban military conflict.”
Noting that Harris asserted that the dozens of Palestinian Arabs who were killed last week as they approached an aid truck in Gaza were “met with gunfire and chaos” by Israeli soldiers, IHF pointed out that Israel’s initial review of the incident found that most of the victims were trampled by fellow Gazans in the stampede.
Rabbi David Katz, Executive Director of Israel Heritage Foundation, condemned Vice President Harris for her words.
“I give credit where credit is due and criticize where it’s warranted. I commended President Biden when he initially came out strongly in favor of Israel after October 7th. When he visited Israel for the first time as president back in 2022 and knelt down to speak with Holocaust survivors, I wrote him a letter praising him. But what Harris is doing now is a disgrace. Her deceitful words are misleading and giving the wrong message to the world,” said Rabbi Katz, who added that Harris’ words “were untruthful and unfair, and it’s shameful that a Vice President of the US of America should be able to say what she said.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)