Harris's decision to shun PM congress speech was 'miserable,' Chikli says - exclusive

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris's decision not to attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the US Congress on July 24 was "miserable," Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post in Jerusalem on Monday.

Chikli also criticized Harris for comments she gave after meeting Netanyahu the next day, in which "two minutes" after condemning Hamas, she "treated the war as if it was an Israeli caprice that came out of nowhere and was not connected to October 7."

In late April, Chikli drew attention when he said in an interview on KAN radio that the US under President Joe Biden was "not projecting power" and said that if he was a US citizen, he would vote for the Republican Party. Asked whether he still held this view now that Harris has replaced Biden as the Democratic party nominee, Chikli preempted his answer by stressing that he was only addressing the issue through the prism of Israel's security, as well as by its "influence on Zionism and antisemitism," or, in other words, only "whatever immediately relates to us."

Chikli went on to argue that a "cold examination" of the facts through this prism shows that Trump's Israel policies were more beneficial than Biden's. Chikli pointed out that Trump made the "historic" decision to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and facilitated the Abraham Accords, which Chikli said were "groundbreaking" in that they introduced new concepts of "peace for peace" (as opposed to "peace for land") and "values-based peace".

Regarding Biden, Chikli noted the US president's "truly extraordinary" speech in support of Israel following the October 7 massacre and expressed his appreciation for the regional coalition led by the US facing the Iranian missile and drone attack on the night of April 13, as well as the US's current actions to defend Israel from another attack. These, Chikli said, showed the "importance and strength" of the alliance between the two countries.

According to Chikli, however, under Biden's administration, the US retreated from Afghanistan, and the hasty manner in which it happened was a "very bad event" in the fight against terror, which "affects the entire area." More recently, there was the "micromanagement of the war," which Chikli said was "very problematic between allies"; the delay of critical munitions; and sanctions against Israeli civilians.

"These were precedents that were not good [and] not healthy," Chikli said.

He added that he was "attentive to trends in the Democratic Party."

Drawing lines in the Democratic Party

"Just as I am happy that there are members of Congress like John Fetterman and Richie Torres, who draw a clear line between good and bad and identify with Israel's war against terror, there is also the Squad, which includes Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who do not hide their identification with Hamas," Chikli said.

"Unfortunately, it is not clear at the moment that this group is weakening. I hope in the future, Israel will return to being a bipartisan issue. Right now, it is not as decisive as it was in the past," he said.

The comment was part of a wide-ranging interview that dealt with the US-Israel relationship, the hostage negotiations, the war against Hamas, combating antisemitism, and more.

The full interview will be published later this week.