Former president gives his backing in major boost for the likely Democrat contender as her Republican rival prepares to meet Israeli prime minister
Israel’s far-right lawmakers have criticised Kamala Harris’ call for a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, Associated Press reports.
“There will be no end to the war, Mrs candidate,” Israeli national security adviser Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote Friday on X. Ben-Gvir is one of the most visible right-wing ministers and a key ultranationalist ally to Netanyahu.
Harris met with Netanyahu in Washington yesterday and said that bringing home hostages was imperative and describing widespread suffering among Gaza’s civilian population as fighting continues.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, claimed Harris had “revealed” that a cease-fire deal amounted to surrendering to Hamas. “It is forbidden to fall into this trap!” he wrote.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are opposed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza and say Israel should continue fighting until Hamas is vanquished.
Barack Obama has endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president, meaning the vice-president has now won the backing of all the party’s politically active high-profile figures for her White House bid.
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