WALL STREET JOURNAL
Tensions Between Bibi Netanyahu and Kamala Harris
Walter Russell Mead
July 23, 2024

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be there. Despite having become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, she decided that an earlier commitment to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s convention in Indianapolis mattered more than a speech by the leader of one of America’s closest allies at a time of conflict and crisis in a region involving vital U.S. interests. Ms. Harris is expected to meet Mr. Netanyahu during his visit to Washington, but the snub is unmistakable. It is fueling rumors of a rift between the Harris and Biden approaches to the Middle East. On March 4, NBC News reported that National Security Council officials “toned down” a draft of remarks Ms. Harris was to give on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. This week the Journal reported that other fissures could appear. READ MORE

POLITICO Dems GTFO after Bibi’s speech Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) were the only non-Republicans to hang around for a handshake with Netanyahu following the speech. Dozens of Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, left the chamber before the prime minister had even left the rostrum.

THE HILL Pelosi says Netanyahu gave ‘the worst’ speech to Congress from any foreign leader Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday as the “worst” in the body’s history, harshly criticizing the leader’s lack of progress toward a hostage deal with Hamas. 

JEWISH INSIDER Speaker Johnson: VP Harris will ‘pay a price’ politically for skipping Bibi speech House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress today as a “terrible symbolic gesture” and predicted that she would “pay a price for it politically.”