(Headline USA) Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted Vice President Kamala Harris this week for suggesting the U.S. could impose “consequences” on Israel if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah.
Hard disagree.
Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated.
Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives. pic.twitter.com/tbid2eq7P4
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) March 24, 2024
The Biden administration came out against Israel’s planned escalation last week and once again demanded a temporary ceasefire in the region.
Harris echoed this position during an interview with ABC News on Sunday, warning that it would be a “huge mistake” for Israel to carry out another ground offensive without U.S. approval.
“Hard disagree,” Fetterman tweeted in response. “Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated. Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives.”
Fetterman has been an outspoken advocate for Israel in recent months even as other leftist members of his party have grown increasingly critical of the Jewish state’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Even Harris and President Joe Biden have begun to distance themselves from Israel, likely following primary election results that saw Biden lose tens of thousands of Democratic votes as a result of a leftist protest movement.
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris said on Sunday. “Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go.”
When pressed on whether the U.S. would respond with its own action if Israel moves forward with its planned invasion anyway, Harris said, “I am ruling out nothing.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, made it clear last week that his forces would continue to fight Hamas with or without the permission of the U.S.
“I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there,” Netanyahu said after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week. “I told him that I hope we would do this with U.S. support, but if necessary—we will do it alone.”
