Instagram is wonderful for sharing pictures, videos, and funny memes. It’s not the best vehicle for sharing political information. Case in point: this greatest-hits of absurd claims about Kamala Harris posted with no evidence that is making the rounds. It’s a great example of taking seriously Steve Bannon’s strategy of “flooding the zone with shit.” The strategy depends on making multiple allegations that are easy to articulate in a few words but take more words to refute, especially since the allegations don’t contain specifics. That’s the idea. But let’s give it a try. This is the truth:

1. The Biden-Harris administration has not lifted any sanctions on Iran. Instead, the Biden-Harris Administration has imposed more than 600 new sanctions on Iran and its destabilizing terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. The administration has continued Trump-era policies on waivers to allow some purchases from Iran, which do not fund terrorism, do not enrich Iran, and are important to help maintain regional and global stability (including the money, including the $6 billion, the post refers to).
2. The administration has never sanctioned any IDF units and there is no evidence that Harris tried to do so. The administration considered sanctioning one unit for allegedly egregious violations and did not do so. Our Instagram friend seems to be confusing Kamala Harris with Antony Blinken, who is not running for president.
3. The administration has sanctioned certain West Bank settlers engaged in violence in the West Bank, which causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region. That’s why the administration sanctions those who engage in or provide material support for violent activities there. This is completely separate from the Gaza War, which is not an existential war. Hamas never had the military capability of destroying Israel (with all respect to those who don’t remember the Yom Kippur War, which was an existential war).
4. This is a great example of turning a grain of truth into sand dunes of lies. Harris and other good friends of Israel, including Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against a bill that contained the Combating BDS Act, a political stunt introduced by Marco Rubio with little practical impact other than a risk of infringing on free speech. The GOP goal was to play politics by putting Democrats in a position of having to choose between voting for a bill that had a great name but did little to actually combat BDS (hence the attack against Harris in this post) and protecting free speech. About half the Democratic senators voted for it and half voted against it. Nearly all of the Republicans, who were all-in for playing political games and not concerned about free speech, voted for it. The Democrats, including Harris, who voted against this bill oppose BDS. The problem was that this bill would not stop BDS but did present free speech concerns. If our Instagram friends understood the bill, they’d be praising her for voting against it.
5. No administration has done more than the Biden-Harris administration in support of Israel’s safety and security, including providing a record-setting emergency aid package to Israel nearly five times the size of our annual aid package to Israel and coordinating our regional defense of Israel against Iran’s April 13 missile attacks, directly using U.S. troops for the first time to defend Israel. Trump said nothing while Republicans blocked this vital emergency aid to Israel for six months. During that same period, the Biden-Harris administration approved over 100 arms sales to Israel. The administration paused one non-critical arms shipment designed to send a signal that their use could trigger a humanitarian crisis inconsistent with U.S. and Israeli objectives. Michael Koplow wrote at the time that “the impact of the delayed arms shipment is somewhere between negligible and non-existent when it comes to Israel’s ability to fight and defeat Hamas,” especially since Israel had sufficient stockpiles of those large bombs.
6. Hamas, not Kamala Harris, is responsible for the suffering of the hostages. The administration urged Israel not to conduct a large-scale operation in Rafah. The administration never opposed limited operations in Rafah, including the attempt in August to rescue the hostages.
7. The U.S. does not “pass” UN resolutions. The UN Security Council adopted the Biden administration’s resolution calling on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal 14–0–1. U.S. UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that “Hamas’ leaders are the ones who have put civilians at risk by hiding in tunnels underground and facilities that are near civilians and doing nothing to shelter those civilians. I’ve rarely ever seen anything so egregious and cowardly.” The administration vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood. What our Instagram friend seems to be mistakenly referring to is that Biden vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions biased against Israel, blocked a UN Security Council statement biased against Israel, and voted correctly by abstaining on UN Security Council Resolution 2728.
8. On August 1, following the assassinations of Hezbollah senior general Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, President Biden called Prime Minister Netanyahu and reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Vice President Harris joined the call, and the administration made new defensive military deployments to help defend Israel against possible attack.
9. Hezbollah, not Kamala Harris, is responsible for the displacement of Israelis in the north. Harris has repeatedly emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself. No rational friend of Israel wants regional escalation, which would harm Israel’s security and result in countless Israeli deaths.
10. Harris has noted the indisputable fact that some Gazans are starving and has urged more humanitarian aid. Harris states on her website for all to see that “Vice President Harris will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to protect U.S. forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. Vice President Harris will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and she will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. She and President Biden are working to end the war in Gaza, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination. She and President Biden are working around the clock to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done.” None of these objectives are contradictory — they are all necessary to ensure Israel’s safety and security as a Jewish, democratic state.

Oddly enough, our Instagram friends seem to have nothing to say about Harris’s opponents, Donald Trump and JD Vance, who are and would be terrible on Israel and antisemitism, the two issues they claim to be concerned about. I wonder why.

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