Lion and the ostrich

The contrast between the speeches of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress and that of interim “President” Kamala Harris after meeting with Netanyahu was, well, frightening, demoralizing and distressing. 

Frightening and distressing for the American people.

If you didn’t watch Netanyahu or read his text, you should. Then, watch Harris’ remarks after her meeting with Netanyahu.

The lion and the blind ostrich.

Here we are, ostensibly the most powerful democratic republic in the world and the leader of the free world, and yet we now have as our nation’s de facto president an individual who is so obviously feckless; oblivious to right-and-wrong reality; in a job far beyond her ability; and, like her predecessor on every foreign-policy matter, wrong on the Israel-Hamas war. 

What’s more, how insulting for Harris, the head of the U.S. Senate, not to attend the speech of the prime minister of our leading ally in the Mideast, instead going to a sorority convention in Indiana. That says it all. 

So do the two speeches.

Here is Netanyahu describing what happened on Oct. 7: 

“Like Dec. 7, 1941, and Sept. 11, 2001, Oct. 7 is a day that will forever live in infamy.

“It was the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. It began as a perfect day … And suddenly, at 6:29 a.m., as children were still sleeping soundly in their beds in the towns and kibbutzim next to Gaza, suddenly heaven turned into hell. 

“Three thousand Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel. They butchered 1,200 people from 41 countries, including 39 Americans … And these monsters, they raped women, they beheaded men, they burnt babies alive, they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. They dragged 255 people, both living in dead, into the dark dungeons of Gaza … ”

Now read what Harris said about Oct. 7. Mind you, she didn’t need to repeat all of the vivid, gorey details. But here’s what she said:“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization. On Oct. 7, Hamas triggered this war when it massacred 1,200 innocent people, including 44 Americans. Hamas has committed horrific acts of sexual violence and took 250 hostages. There are American citizens who remain captive in Gaza.”

Now, before Harris said that, she also said, “I said it many times, but it bears repeating: Israel has a right to defend itself … ” 

But at the end of stating that, she added: “and how it does so matters.”

There you go. She did not condemn with forceful emphasis the barbaric leaders of Hamas and what they perpetrated. Netanyahu called Hamas “rapists,” “murderers” and “terrorist thugs.” But with her six words — “and how it does so matters” — Harris clearly signaled she is not really a supporter of Israel, especially not a supporter of eliminating the terrorist thugs who have vowed for decades their mission in life is to wipe out Israel and its people. 

Here’s more of Harris lecturing:

“I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concerns about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there, with over two million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity … We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. … And I will not be silent.”

Now had Harris attended Netanyahu’s speech, she would have heard this:

“The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter, complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That’s half-a-million tons of food, and that’s more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman and child in Gaza. 

“If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it; it’s because Hamas is stealing it.” 

Netanyahu also quoted the foremost military historian at West Point, who says, “Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history and beyond what international law requires.”

Shockingly, at the end of her remarks, Harris said the “war in Gaza is not a binary issue.” She couldn’t be more wrong. As Net-anyahu said: “It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.” 

If Harris truly believes in Israel, she would know and endorse that the only way to a better future is the elimination of Hamas and its leadership. 

She is the ostrich — her feckless head in the sand.