Uncommitted voters who protested against Joe Biden over his handling of Israel’s deadly war on Gaza are warning that Kamala Harris must earn their vote.

The Guardian’s Melissa Hellmann and Rachel Leingang reports:

The protest movement that sought to use the Democratic primaries to pressure Joe Biden to shift his policy on Israel and Gaza breathed a sigh of relief when he ended his bid for re-election. But they’re not ready to promise they’ll support Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

More than 700,000 Americans voted “uncommitted”, or its equivalent, in state primaries as a message to Biden that he risked losing significant support in November if he did not shift away from his support for Israel. As next month’s Democratic national convention inches closer, the movement has turned its sights to pressuring Harris to shape a new course on Gaza policy. Its demands of Harris include an arms embargo on Israel and support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials.

Uncommitted voters say that their message to the White House is clear: stop funding Israel’s war, or lose our votes.

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Here is the full video of Barack and Michelle Obama’s endorsement of Kamala Harris which her campaign team released:

“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama said.

Several House Republicans are criticizing JD Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate, the Hill reports.

According to the outlet, “veteran lawmakers, moderates and Reagan-styled conservatives” have anonymously spoken out about their disapproval towards Vance.

“He was the worst choice of all the options. It was so bad I didn’t even think it was possible… Anti-Ukraine, more of a populist. He adds nothing to the Trump ticket. He energizes the same people that love Trump,” said one House Republican.

“I think if you were to ask many people around this building, nine out of 10 on our side would say he’s the wrong pick,” another House Republican said, adding, “He’s the only person who can do serious damage.”

“The prevailing sentiment is if Trump loses, [it’s] because of this pick. It doesn’t help,” another House Republican said.

In response to Barack and Michelle Obama’s expected yet highly significant endorsement, Kamala Harris wrote on X:

“It means so much to have your endorsements … Let’s get to work.”

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, due later today at Mar-a-Lago, signals that both are looking to ease tensions that have developed since Trump left office in January 2021.

Reuters reports that the Israeli leader angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over the Republican in the 2020 election.

Trump more recently criticized Netanyahu for security failures around the deadly 7 October Hamas attack on Israel that prompted the war on Gaza.

Local police told a press conference on Thursday that Netanyahu would arrive in Palm Beach, Florida, around 11am EDT and stay for two to three hours before returning to the airport, WPTV television reported.

The Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw encouraged peaceful protests but said he did not expect demonstrations on the scale of what happened in Washington this week, when thousands of activists marched – vandalizing some landmarks and confronting police – to protest against the war in Gaza.

Israel’s far-right lawmakers have criticised Kamala Harris’s call for a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, Associated Press reports.

“There will be no end to the war, Mrs candidate,” the Israeli national security adviser Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote Friday on X. Ben-Gvir is one of the most visible right-wing ministers and a key ultranationalist ally to Netanyahu.

Harris met with Netanyahu in Washington yesterday and said that bringing home hostages was imperative and describing widespread suffering among Gaza’s civilian population as fighting continues.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, claimed Harris had “revealed” that a cease-fire deal amounted to surrendering to Hamas. “It is forbidden to fall into this trap!” he wrote.

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are opposed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza and say Israel should continue fighting until Hamas is vanquished.

Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic candidate for president