Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced the brunt of blowback over the deaths perpetrated by Hamas as hopes fade for a ceasefire deal that would secure the remaining hostages’ release.

Thousands of Israeli protesters marched over the weekend and urged Netanyahu to reach a deal with Hamas in what amounted to the largest demonstration since their Oct. 7 attack, while President Joe Biden told reporters Monday that the prime minister is not doing enough to help.

But at home, Republicans are hoping to level the same critique at Harris as they have with Biden. They say his attempts to constrain Netanyahu, who has waged a casualty-heavy war in Gaza, has led to the current crisis and that electing Harris would be a continuation of their “failed” leadership.

“Our Country and our amazing people are not safe under Joe Biden and will be less safe under Kamala Harris,” former President Donald Trump said in a Sunday statement.

When asked about the comments, the Harris campaign referred the Washington Examiner to the White House, which continued to signal its commitment to a ceasefire deal and pointed to statements denouncing the “vicious Hamas terrorists” who killed the hostages.

On Sunday, Biden and Harris spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American who is among the six killed by Hamas.

Still, Republicans believe the deaths have created a fresh opening to exploit tensions with Netanyahu that extend back months and argue that Biden’s decision to oppose large-scale military operations in Rafah, the last remaining stronghold for Hamas, has emboldened the terrorist group. Rafah is home to hundreds of thousands of Gazans displaced by the conflict.

“What the Biden-Harris administration should have done from the beginning is not pressure Israel to restrain its response, but let Israel win from the very outset,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said over the weekend.

The United States has blamed Hamas for the delay in reaching a ceasefire deal, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June noting that Israel had accepted a U.N.-backed proposal.  

But Netanyahu has come under fire for sticking to a demand that Israel maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, with one group representing hostage families calling on Netanyahu to “take responsibility for abandoning the hostages.”

On Monday, a defiant Netanyahu said in a press conference that “no one will preach to me on this issue.”

“No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me,” he said, adding that “whoever murders hostages does not want a deal.”

Hamas itself accused the Biden administration of fueling the war with its “bias” for Israel.

The hostage killings represent the latest test for Netanyahu, whose governing coalition has frayed since he returned as Israel’s prime minister in 2022. He was forced to disband his war Cabinet in June following the departure of opposition leader Benny Gantz over strategic disagreements.

But the conflict has also ensnared Harris. She is navigating the same outcry over civilian deaths that prompted Biden to pause the shipment of certain bombs to Israel in May as it weighed operations in Rafah. At the same time, any daylight Harris creates with Netanyahu has been cast by Republicans as insufficient solidarity with Israel.

Harris effectively endorsed Biden’s stance on the war in Gaza in her first sitdown interview with the press last week, much to the disappointment of pro-Palestinian activists hoping she would steer the party left on the matter.

Meanwhile, Harris gave Republicans ammunition to attack her directly when she skipped Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July, though she subsequently had a private meeting with the prime minister.

Polling suggests the November election will largely be decided on the economy and immigration, which are two domestic matters Republicans have made the centerpiece of their argument against Harris.

But Harris must simultaneously minimize how much she alienates Jewish voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania. At the other end, a large Arab population in Michigan threatens to sink her candidacy if she veers too far right.

Daniel Fee, a Democratic strategist based in Pennsylvania, doubts Republicans can successfully paint Harris as anti-Israel and noted that her husband, first man Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.

“I will really be interested to see whether they’re able to make stick that Kamala Harris somehow doesn’t like Jewish people when she’s married to someone who’s Jewish and who’s raised two stepchildren who both identify,” he said.

He predicted the Democrats upset over the civilian death toll, which includes young voters, will “snap back” in November given the alternative is Trump.

But Republicans, who marked the three-year anniversary of Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last week, are betting they can dampen Democratic enthusiasm while making a broader critique of the administration’s foreign policy.

Biden has made securing a hostage deal a defining goal of his presidency. He and Harris convened a Monday meeting in the Situation Room to discuss the impasse in ceasefire negotiations.

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“Hope springs eternal,” Biden told reporters as he arrived at the White House for the meeting.

But the prospects of getting a deal done have faded 11 months into the conflict. Biden said the U.S. is “very close” to presenting Hamas and Israel with what has been billed as a “take it or leave it” final offer.