Harris Faults Biden and Trump on U.S. Leverage Over Gaza

Kamala Harris said both the Biden and Trump administrations failed to use U.S. influence sooner and more forcefully to curb Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, criticizing her own administration as well as the current one during remarks in Seoul, South Korea. Speaking at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, the former vice president described the Israeli government’s conduct in Gaza as horrific. She said the Trump administration was giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a blank check and argued that the Biden administration, in which she served, should have acted sooner and with greater force. The remarks were delivered Wednesday, October 14, according to reports of the appearance. Harris’s comments were part of a broader address about American leadership and alliances. She also argued that the United States has a moral obligation to uphold human rights and international law in its dealings with allies and adversaries. The available accounts characterize her remarks as criticism of successive administrations’ use of U.S. leverage; they do not independently establish the underlying claims about the conduct of the war. The Republican Jewish Coalition responded by...