Kamala Harris hasn’t had many chances to show what kind of commander in chief she would be if given the chance.
Judging by her reaction to the killing of an American hostage by Hamas, she is not ready for the job – and never will be.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen, was one of six hostages executed by Hamas in Gaza this weekend.
The 23-year-old, originally from California and living in Jerusalem, was abducted on October 7 from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
A young woman, who was in a bunker with him that day when the terrorists attacked him, said he protected her by throwing Hamas grenades from their hideout before one of the bombs blew off his arm below the elbow.
Kamala Harris hasn’t had many chances to show what kind of commander in chief she would be if given the chance.
The 23-year-old, originally from California and living in Jerusalem, was abducted on October 7 from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
The IDF believes he was executed along with the others as Israeli forces closed in on their captors.
Two weeks after officially accepting the Democratic Party nomination, this was Harris’ first real test of his foreign policy.
But this was her weak tweet from Sunday: ‘Like [President Biden] said, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes… It is long past time for a ceasefire and a hostage deal. We must bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza.’
Of course, that is painfully obvious – and completely useless.
Everyone in the US and Israel wants the hostages home. And you don’t have to be a foreign policy genius to see that peace is always preferable.
But how do we achieve that?
Israel cannot be expected to settle for anything less than the complete destruction of Hamas’s ability to stage another October 7.
Yet, for eleven months now, an agreement has been in short supply.
And Harris offers no groundbreaking solutions – only banal platitudes and cowardly equivocations.
In March, she threatened Israel with “consequences” if it invaded the southern Gaza city of Rafah to free the hostages.
“We have made it clear in multiple conversations and in every possible way that a major military operation in Rafah would be a big mistake,” she said.
A young woman who was in a bunker with Goldberg-Polin that day when the terrorists attacked said he protected her by throwing Hamas grenades from their hideout — before one of the bombs blew off his arm below the elbow (seen above in a hostage video released by Hamas on April 24, 2024).
This was her weak tweet from Sunday: ‘Like [President Biden] said: Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes… It is long past time for a ceasefire and a hostage deal.’
In late July, she declined to chair Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress – one of her few responsibilities as vice president.
After meeting the Israeli leader privately, Harris further insulted him, saying she had warned Netanyahu that she would “not remain silent” about “the grave humanitarian situation” facing Palestinians.
Just hours before Goldberg-Polin’s body was found this week, sources close to the vice president told The Washington Post that she “would be open to putting conditions on any assistance to Israel.”
During closed meetings, she has given anti-Israel activists the impression that she would support an arms embargo against Netanyahu’s government.
Her spokespeople deny this – for now.
But her campaign seems keen to continue nodding in that direction.
The White House now reportedly wants to propose a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, with the idea being to take it or leave it.
And what are they doing to put more pressure on Hamas?
Nothing.
Reporters asked President Biden on Monday whether he thought Netanyahu had done enough to reach a deal with Hamas to release the prisoners.
He said no and walked away without elaborating.
At least four other American citizens are believed to be living in Gaza: Edan Alexander, 20; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35; Omer Neutra, 22; and Keith Siegel, 64.
Three others are presumed dead. Their bodies have not been found.
Perhaps you, Mr. President and Madam Vice President, should demand that Hamas release the hostages immediately and without conditions?
But Harris and Biden are dodging the issue: They are too afraid of their own domestic critics to take sides, and too insecure about their own power to wield it with conviction.
Hours before Goldberg-Polin’s body was found this week, sources close to the vice president told The Washington Post that she “would be open to putting conditions on any assistance to Israel.” (Above) Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
In March, Harris threatened Israel with “consequences” if it invaded the southern Gaza city of Rafah to free the hostages.
In 1853, an American citizen named Martin Koszta was kidnapped in Turkey by Austrian agents.
As a result of Koszta’s capture, American Captain Duncan Ingraham threatened to open fire on an Austrian ship in the Turkish port if Koszta was not surrendered to them immediately.
And behold, he was released.
Today, the Biden White House is working overtime to portray Harris as a kind of shadow president, advising Biden and making the tough decisions behind the scenes.
The government releases photos of her in the Situation Room and adds her name to official records of Biden’s conversations with foreign leaders, such as Netanyahu and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
They realize that the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate has little experience in foreign policy, while the world is on fire around them.
The only international emergencies she has faced – as the “border czar” overseeing America’s illegal immigration crisis and as the last person to advise Biden before his disastrous decision to rush US troops out of Afghanistan – have been unmitigated disasters.
Now we can add the endless war in Gaza to its list of fatal failures.