US Vice President Kamala Harris' support for Israel's security is "ironclad," her national security adviser Phil Gordon said on Sunday, adding that she has been briefed and is closely monitoring the rocket attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams, in which 12 children and teenagers were killed.
“The Vice President has been briefed and is closely monitoring Hezbollah’s horrific attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in northern Israel yesterday which killed a number of children and teenagers. She condemns this horrific attack and mourns for all those killed and wounded,” said Gordon in a statement quoted by Reuters.
"Israel continues to face severe threats to its security, and the Vice President’s support for Israel’s security is ironclad," Gordon said in a statement.
Harris last week met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Harris reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself but also said she expressed during the meeting “my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza.”
She stated,“Thanks to the leadership of our President, Joe Biden, there’s a deal on the table for a ceasefire and a hostage deal” and described the three stages of Biden’s three-phase deal, as he outlined in late May.
“It is time for this war to end, and 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. There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal 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.”
Former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump later criticized Harris’ remarks on Israel and called them “disrespectful”.
“I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who’s Jewish can vote for her. But that’s up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel, in my opinion,” said Trump during his meeting with Netanyahu on Friday.
On Sunday, Trump said that the weakness of President Joe Biden and of Harris led to the attack on Majdal Shams.
"Today’s Attack on Israel cannot be forgotten," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday night. "It will go down as another moment in History created by a weak and ineffective United States President and Vice President. With time, this situation will only get worse for our Country. It must galvanize the Republican Party, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Progressives, Libertarians, and everybody else to put STRENGTH, RESPECT, AND POWER back into the U.S.A."
He claimed,"This Attack, just like the Attack of October 7th, or the Ukraine/Russia War, would have never happened if I were President! It is a dangerous and terrible time for the World, and it is almost the entire fault of the incompetent Biden-Harris Administration. It must be changed, and quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"