FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Hamas has launched more than 10,100 rockets into Israel, killing 821 civilians and 351 Israeli soldiers, since the terrorist organization’s rampage of rape, torture, and murder in southern Israel one year ago, according to a memo from a think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence.
Current Vice President Kamala Harris, however, has berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not accepting a peace deal that would threaten Israel’s ability to defend itself, says the memo from Advancing American Freedom, which was shared with The Daily Signal.
“I have been clear: Now is the time to get a cease-fire deal and get the hostage deal done,” Harris, who has replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democrats’ presidential ticket, told pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted a campaign rally in Arizona in July.
Advancing American Freedom, which Pence founded after leaving the vice presidency in 2021, is a conservative think tank dedicated to promoting the policies of the Trump-Pence administration, according to the organization’s website.
When asked about pro-Palestinian protests in America shortly before becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris said the protesters “are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza.”
The adjacent Gaza Strip, where Hamas is the elected government and the launching point of the terrorists’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, has borne the brunt of Israel’s military response.
More than 700 civilians were killed by Hamas terrorists, including 14 children under the age of 10 and 25 adults over the age of 80.
Advancing American Freedom noted that Oct. 7 saw 31 times as many casualties as the second most fatal terrorist attack against Israel, the so-called “Coastal Road Massacre” of March 11, 1978.
In August, Harris said she is open to discussing an arms embargo against Israel with a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel group called the Uncommitted National Movement.
The movement said it shared concerns with Harris that the U.S. was “supplying weapons for Israel’s war and occupation against Palestine.”
“The vice president shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with the Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo,” the organization said in a statement.
A Harris campaign spokesman told The New York Times that the conversation “reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities.”
Advancing American Freedom said Harris’ call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war “undermine(s) Israel’s peace efforts and will directly lead to Iranian hegemony in the Middle East.”
“As Americans, we must support our democratic allies and prevent extremist factions from gaining control of this pivotal region,” the think tank’s memo says.
Almost 80% of Israel’s arms imports come from the United States, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The top imports and exports between the United States and Israel include pharmaceuticals,
agricultural products, machinery, and medical instruments, according to the U.S. Embassy in Israel.
“Israel provides the United States with much needed missile defense parity against an Iranian
government that hates America and seeks to destroy the U.S.,” the memo says.