Harris steps out on Israel as she navigates Biden and Netanyahu

CNN —

Four days into the most consequential week of Kamala Harris’ political life, she confronted the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country by looking directly into the eyes of an Israeli prime minister who decided not to even give her a passing name check in his address to Congress Wednesday afternoon.

Up until now, Harris has been defined by working for President Joe Biden, arguably the most explicitly pro-Israel American president, even though his relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu has frayed.

But now that she’s the presumptive Democratic nominee, Harris has to define what kind of president she wants to be — on this and every other issue, while Biden remains at the White House trying to nail down a Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and with some around him thinking that restarting the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia could be a top legacy project for the remainder of his term.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Related article Harris says she told Netanyahu to get ceasefire deal done while pledging ‘unwavering’ support for Israel

Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, instead choosing to stick with a pre-scheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana, as antisemitic protests erupted near the US Capitol where fences were put up like in the days following the January 6, 2021, riot.

But after her meeting with the prime minister Thursday afternoon, she laid out what she wanted to be a very clear position, speaking to reporters in a way she has not done