WASHINGTON – The United States will not ease its “pressure” on Israel to reach a deal on hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
Washington is working with Israel on humanitarian aid and “the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire,” Harris said.
Harris provided a carefully worded response to CBS’ Bill Whitaker on the question of whether the US has “a real close ally” in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes,” Harris replied.
On the Middle East, CBS’ preview shows Whitaker pressed Harris on Netanyahu’s reluctance so far for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza and for Israeli forces “not to go into Lebanon,” despite US calls for these.
Whitaker noted during the “60 Minutes” interview that the US supplies Israel with “billions of dollars in military aid” and yet Netanyahu “seems to be charting his own course.”
Harris responded that the aid the US had given Israel allowed it “to defend itself against 200 ballistic missiles that were just meant to attack” the people of Israel.
“When we think about the threat that Hezbollah presents — Iran — I think that it is, without any question, our imperative to do what we can to allow Israel to defend itself against those kinds of attacks,” she said.
“The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles, which include the need for humanitarian aid, the need for this war to end, the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire,” Harris added.
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