Kamala Harris criticizes Biden, Trump administrations for not acting ‘more forcefully’ against Israel

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Biden and Trump administrations on Wednesday for failing to use U.S. leverage to curb Israel’s military campaign in Gaza , saying Washington should have acted “sooner and more forcefully.” “Most recently, the failure to use our leverage to curtail the Israeli government’s horrific conduct in the war in Gaza, both under the current administration, which offers [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu a blank check, and our administration before, where we should have acted sooner and more forcefully,” Harris said while speaking at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, South Korea. 5 Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Biden and Trump administrations on Wednesday for failing to use U.S. leverage to curb Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Getty Images 5 Israeli soldiers and tanks from the IDF’s 252nd Division operate in the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. IDF The Republican Jewish Coalition called Harris’s remarks “unsurprising,” citing her absence from Netanyahu’s 2024 address to Congress and her opposition to legislation targeting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. The group also criticized Harris for calling for a halt to Israeli military operations in Rafah, where the Israel Defense Forces later found and rescued hostages, and for agreeing with a student in 2021 who accused Israel of “ethnic genocide.” Explore More America’s top party college rocked by sorority girl scandal as California sisters go scorched earth: ‘We all noticed’ Feds building case to deport Ilhan Omar as new details emerge about DC home raid Rape reported at another elite college’s frat party — as group cheered on attack, asked ‘when’s my turn’: witness 5 U.S. President Donald Trump, left, holds hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on Oct. 13, 2025. POOL/AFP via Getty Images 5 U.S. President Joe Biden speaking in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Sept. 30, 2024. Bloomberg via Getty Images 5 An explosion occurs at a water treatment facility in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine, following an Israeli attack, on Aug. 24, 2026. Anadolu via Getty Images Attorney and author Warren Kinsella, who worked on Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign, wrote that he is “ashamed to have worked with her,” following her remarks about Israel.