Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement Monday in commemoration of the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, expressing sympathy for the victims but adding that she would “always fight for the Palestinian people.”
Harris’s message continues a pattern of equivocation by the Biden administration — showing solidarity with Israel against terrorism, but also showing solidarity with the Palestinian cause in whose name the terror was committed.
While describing the October 7 attack in graphic terms, and calling for the release of the remaining hostages, Harris also added that she was “heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza,” and said that she would fight for Palestinians “to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination.” She also called for a “diplomatic solution” to the war in Lebanon, where diplomacy has failed and Israel is busy destroying Hezbollah.
Her statement follows, in full:
I will never forget the horror of October 7, 2023. 1,200 innocent people, including 46 Americans, were massacred by Hamas terrorists. Women raped on the side of the road. 250 people kidnapped. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. What Hamas did that day was pure evil – it was brutal and sickening. And it has rekindled a deep fear among the Jewish people not just in Israel, but in the United States and around the world.
The long, extraordinary arc of Jewish history is full of pogroms and prejudice, slaughter and separation. And now, in our own generation, there is another moment that the world must never forget.
I am devastated by the loss and pain of the Israeli people as a result of the heinous October 7 attack. Doug and I pray for the families of the victims and hope they find solace in remembering the lives their loved ones lived.
We also pray for the safety of Jewish people all around the world. We all must ensure nothing like the horrors of October 7 ever happen again. I will do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas. I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including the seven American citizens, living and deceased, still held: Omer, Edan, Sagui, Keith, Judy, Gad, and Itay. I will never stop fighting for justice for those who murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other Americans. And I will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists like Hamas. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering.
Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7 launched a war in Gaza. I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year—tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water, and medicine. It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people. And I will always fight for the Palestinian people to be able to realize their right to dignity, freedom, security, and self-determination. We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.
Today, as we mourn the lives lost on October 7, I know many Jews will be reciting and reflecting on the Jewish prayer for mourning – the Kaddish. The words of the Kaddish, however, are not about death. The prayer is about still believing in God and still having faith. I know that is difficult amidst so much trauma and pain. But it is with that spirit that I commemorate this solemn day. We will not forget, and we will not lose faith. And in honor of all those souls we lost on October 7, we must never lose sight of the dream of peace, dignity, and security for all.
A poll of Israelis released last week showed that they prefer former President Donald Trump to Harris by more than a two-to-one margin, 54% to 24%. Ironically, many pro-Palestinian activists are abandoning Harris because they feel her opposition to Israel is not strong enough.
Some are even endorsing Trump — not because they agree with his policies on Israel, but because they believe he will be able to restore peace to the region, as he did from 2017 to 2021.
President Joe Biden’s own statement on October 7 mirrored many of Harris’s sentiments, and used the exact same language on Lebanon: “We also continue to believe that a diplomatic solution across the Israel-Lebanon border region is the only path to restore lasting calm and allow residents on both sides to return safely to their homes.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.