Nicolai Haugsted
The former vice president has broken with Joe Biden over his handling of Israel, accusing Washington of failing its moral responsibilities.
Kamala Harris has spent much of her political career defending the decisions of the administration she helped lead. But her latest comments suggest she is increasingly willing to challenge its record on one of the most divisive foreign policy issues in recent American history.
According to RadarOnline, the former vice president has delivered unusually direct criticism of Washington’s handling of the war in Gaza, arguing that American leaders failed to use their considerable influence when it mattered most.
Her remarks are particularly striking because the criticism does not stop with Donald Trump.
Former President Joe Biden, Harris’s longtime political partner and the man whose administration she served for four years, is also firmly in her sights.
Harris accuses both administrations of failing Gaza
Speaking at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Harris criticized the responses of both the Biden and Trump administrations to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The former vice president argued that Washington should have used its diplomatic and political influence “sooner and more forcefully” to challenge what she described as the Israeli government’s “horrific conduct.”
Harris suggested that the United States had failed to meet its “moral obligation to human rights and international law.”
Her criticism focused on the relationship between Washington and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government has faced intense international scrutiny over its conduct during the conflict.
Harris argued that insufficient American pressure had effectively given Netanyahu “a blank check.”
The comments represent a significant public criticism of the foreign policy approach pursued by the administration in which Harris herself served as vice president.
While her speech addressed broader questions about American leadership, international alliances and global security, her remarks on Gaza highlighted a particularly sensitive disagreement within Democratic politics.
Biden’s former deputy revisits an uncomfortable chapter
Harris’s latest comments follow earlier disclosures about her disagreements with Biden over the humanitarian consequences of the war.
In her 2025 memoir, 107 Days, the former vice president described privately urging Biden to show greater compassion toward Palestinian civilians.
She wrote that she had “pleaded with Joe” to demonstrate the same empathy for innocent people in Gaza that he had expressed for Ukrainians suffering during Russia’s invasion.
According to Harris, Biden’s public comments about Palestinian suffering sometimes “came off as inadequate and forced.”
The criticism was notable because Harris had spent the 2024 presidential campaign navigating the political consequences of the administration’s support for Israel.
As the Democratic presidential nominee, she repeatedly called for a ceasefire and expressed concern about civilian casualties.
At the same time, she maintained that Israel had the right to defend itself.
That position placed Harris between competing demands from voters who wanted stronger American action over Gaza and those who supported continued US backing for Israel.
Her memoir also suggested that Netanyahu preferred Trump’s return to the White House and had undermined Biden despite the former president’s longstanding support for Israel.
Harris’s argument extends beyond the decisions of individual presidents.
During her speech, she emphasized that American alliances should not prevent Washington from challenging governments whose actions conflict with international law.
The United States, she suggested, must be prepared to hold its partners accountable rather than treating diplomatic relationships as unconditional commitments.
