Trump and Harris mark somber anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are marking the first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust as the presidential candidates approach the final weeks of the campaign during a widening conflict in the Middle East.

Political leaders across the spectrum were marking the killing of about 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7 attack last year, and the taking of about 250 hostages. A year later, about 100 people, including several Americans, remain in captivity, as U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage release deal have sputtered out.

Trump will visit the New York City gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who led the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Orthodox Judaism from 1951 until his death in 1994. Schneerson was the movement’s seventh leader, known as Lubavitcher Rebbe. Trump then will speak before Jewish community leaders at one of his Florida resorts in the Miami suburb of Doral.

Harris will briefly speak to journalists and, with her husband, plant a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in honor of the those killed a year ago.

Earlier Monday, Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, recited a prayer for peace at an event to commemorate the anniversary hosted by the American Jewish Committee in Washington.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden also hosted a somber memorial ceremony at the White House Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the attack. The Bidens looked on as Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation recited the Jewish remembrance prayer for the more than 1,200 people, including dozens of Americans, killed that day, listing the towns, villages and festival site that were the scenes of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The president then lit a lone memorial candle placed on a small table at the center of the Blue Room, before they observed a moment of silence.

Earlier in the day, Biden spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the White House said.

The attack sparked a deadly war in Gaza, as Israel moved to root out Hamas' control over the territory and try to return those taken captive. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, has fired thousands of rockets at Israeli territory in the same period from Lebanon, and Israel last month expanded a campaign of sabotage and assassination and launched a ground incursion into Lebanon to combat the threat from the group.

Iran, meanwhile, has fired large missile salvos at Israel, most recently a week ago, as the U.S. maintains troops and weaponry in the region to help Israel shoot them down.

Trump has blamed both Harris and Biden for the war, arguing their administration empowered Iran, and he has tried to take advantage of some of the divisions within the Democratic Party with progressives protesting Israel's war.

Some of Trump's statements on Israel overlook his association with people who spew antisemitic rhetoric such as far-right activist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

Trump has repeatedly said that Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” and recently said that if he loses the presidential election to Harris on Nov. 5 “the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that.”

“I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it’s not a reciprocal, as they say,” Trump said on Monday in a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. He also said developers could make Gaza “better than Monaco" because it has “the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything.”

In an excerpt released from an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air Monday night, Harris appeared to avoid answering a question about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considered “a real close ally,” and said, “The better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”

Trump’s own relations with Netanyahu have been rocky. They soured after the Israeli prime minister became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden for his 2020 victory, which Trump continues to deny. A few days after the Oct. 7 attack last year, Trump publicly criticized Netanyahu and said he “was not prepared” for the deadly incursion from Gaza. Trump said Netanyahu had let the U.S. down just before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

Since then, the two have met to talk about a cease-fire deal for Gaza.

Halie Soifer, head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said the conflict in the Middle East — including fighting with Hezbollah and Iran — has left Jewish voters “with a sense of vulnerability and concern for Israel’s future.” Soifer previously advised Harris on national security issues.

She says Harris has been consistent with a message of commitment to Israel’s defense for the last year, and says that Harris and Biden have directed U.S. forces to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel on multiple occasions.

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Megerian reported from Washington.