Trump touts warm ties with Israeli Netanyahu, criticizes Harris

PALM BEACH, Florida >> Former President Donald Trump touted his close relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu as he hosted the Israeli prime minister today and accused U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris of making “disrespectful” comments about the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu met Trump, the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, a day after talks with Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who will run against Trump in the November 5 US election.

Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida vacation spot, and criticized Harris, who after meeting the Israeli leader expressed concern about the toll Israel’s nine-month campaign in Gaza was taking on Palestinian civilians.

“I find her comments disrespectful,” Trump said.

Netanyahu said he hoped his trip to the US would lead to a faster ceasefire.

“I hope so. But I think time will tell,” he told reporters. He said he believed there was movement in efforts to broker a ceasefire because of Israeli military pressure and said he would send a team to Rome to talk.

Netanyahu had angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump falsely claims that the election was stolen from him by voter fraud.

Trump recently criticized Netanyahu for Israeli security failures that allowed Hamas to launch the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Trump rejected any suggestion of tensions with Netanyahu.

“We have a very good relationship,” he said, referring to policy changes during his presidency, including moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and withdrawing the United States from the international nuclear deal with Iran.

Polls show Harris and Trump locked in a neck-and-neck race for the White House, prompting world leaders like Netanyahu, who have traditionally been more aligned with Trump’s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, to seek a balance in dealing with the US.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION A ‘SERIOUS CONCERN’, SAYS HARRIS

Harris had questioned Netanyahu about the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave during talks on Thursday, looking for signs of changes she might make to U.S. policy if she becomes president.

“I have made clear my grave concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” Harris said. “I will not remain silent.”

“Israel has the right to defend itself. And how it does that matters,” she said.

Members of Netanyahu’s delegation were disappointed by some of Harris’s comments, both privately and publicly. According to a source, they were concerned that it was a sign of the shift between the governments and that it could signal the development of relations if she were to win the presidency.

Netanyahu leads a far-right coalition government that opposes Palestinian statehood, a policy that runs counter to U.S. support for a two-state solution to end decades of conflict.

In defiant remarks to Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu defended the Israeli military and rejected criticism of a campaign that has devastated Gaza and killed more than 39,000 people, health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave said.

Dozens of Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, expressing dismay over the thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza, the destruction of infrastructure and the displacement of most of its 2.3 million residents.

In his speech on Wednesday, Netanyahu praised Biden’s support for Israel.

But to cheers from Republicans, he touched on Trump’s pro-Israel record as president, praising Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a long-held goal of conservatives that has angered Palestinians.

He also mentioned the Abraham Accords, groundbreaking agreements signed by the US during Trump’s years in the White House that normalized bilateral relations between Israel and both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli counts. About 115 hostages are still being held, though Israel believes one in three is dead. Israeli officials estimate that about 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or captured, out of a force they put at more than 25,000 at the start of the war.