Vice President Kamala Harris picked a fight with the Israeli government during remarks at an Independence Day reception hosted by the Israeli embassy in Washington on Tuesday evening, criticizing proposed judicial reforms in Israel.
The event was meant to highlight the close ties between the U.S. and Israel after 75 years of Israeli independence. But Harris appeared to ad-lib a criticism, triggering a diplomatic spat.
The Times of Israel reported:
The not-so-subtle allusion to the Biden administration’s opposition to the efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government to radically curb the power of the High Court of Justice was included in a 14-minute speech that was largely effusive in its praise of the Jewish state.
“Under President Joe Biden and our administration, America will continue to stand for the values that have been the bedrock of the US-Israel relationship, which include continuing to strengthen our democracies, which… are both built on strong institutions, checks and balances — and I’ll add an independent judiciary,” Harris said to applause from many of the 2,000 people listening in the auditorium of the National Building Museum, including Shirin Herzog, the wife of Israel’s Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog, who was seated onstage behind the vice president.
There was no applause however from far-right Religious Zionism lawmaker Simcha Rothman, one of the architects of the judicial revamp, who has been in the US for the past several days and was invited to the event.
The remarks were captured on video, and Reuters provided additional context with footage of ongoing protests by Israel’s left-wing opposition to the idea of reforming the world’s most powerful judiciary:
Truly “Atticus Pund” – just like Hilliary, Joe, Chucky, the Turd!
Hey 10:30, Is the turd obama? Asking for a friend.
YES!!!