{"id":114508,"date":"2024-07-24T17:00:13","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T15:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114508"},"modified":"2024-07-24T09:38:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T07:38:27","slug":"26-00-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114508","title":{"rendered":"Kamala Harris\u2019s Record on Israel Raises Questions About Support for Jewish State if Elected US President"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Kamala Harris\u2019s Record on Israel Raises Questions About Support for Jewish State if Elected US President<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Corey Walker<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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US Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: Erin Schaff\/Pool via REUTERS<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Following US President\u00a0Joe Biden\u2019s stunning exit<\/a>\u00a0from the 2024 presidential race, allies of Israel are looking for clues as to how Vice President Kamala Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee, could approach issues affecting the Jewish state if she were to win the White House in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris\u2019s previous statements reveal a mixed record on Israel, offering signs of both optimism and pessimism to pro-Israel advocates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Harris has voiced support for the Jewish state\u2019s right to existence and self defense, she has also expressed sympathy for far-left narratives that brand Israel as \u201cgenocidal.\u201d The vice president has additionally often criticized Israel\u2019s war effort against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, while giving a speech to the\u00a0American Israel Public Affairs Committee<\/a>\u00a0(AIPAC), then-Senator Harris delivered a 19-minute speech in which she showered praise on Israel, stating that she supports \u201cthe United States\u2019 commitment to provide Israel with $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade.\u201d Harris stated that America has \u201cshared values\u201d with Israel and that the bond between the two nations is \u201cunbreakable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, while giving another speech to AIPAC, Harris emphasized that US support for Israel must remain \u201crock solid\u201d and noted that Hamas \u201cmaintains its control of Gaza and fires rockets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite such statements of support, however, Harris has previously exhibited a degree of patience for those who make baseless smears against Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2021, when confronted by a George Mason University student who angrily accused Israel of committing \u201cethnic genocide\u201d against Palestinians,\u00a0Harris quietly nodded along<\/a>\u00a0and then praised the student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd again, this is about the fact that your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard,\u201d Harris told the student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Hamas\u2019 slaughter of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 250 others across southern Israel on Oct. 7, Harris has shown inconsistent support for the Jewish state. Although she initially backed Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from Hamas\u2019 terrorism, she has also levied sharp criticism against the Jewish state\u2019s ensuing war effort in Hamas-ruled Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a call with then-Israeli war cabinet leader Benny Gantz earlier this year, Harris suggested that the Jewish state has recklessly imperiled the lives of Palestinian civilians while targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFar too many Palestinian civilians, innocent civilians have been killed,\u201d Harris said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same month, while delivering a speech commemorating the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, Harris called the conditions in Gaza \u201cdevastating.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks,\u201d Harris said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While speaking with\u00a0Israeli President Isaac Herzog<\/a>\u00a0to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover in April, Harris shared \u201cdeep concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and discussed steps to increase the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and ensure its safe distribution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris also pushed the unsubstantiated narrative that Israel has intentionally withheld aid from the people of Gaza, triggering a famine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common\u00a0humanity compels us to act,\u201d Harris said.\u00a0\u201cThe Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition,\u00a0released a report<\/a>\u00a0in June arguing that there is not enough \u201csupporting evidence\u201d to suggest that a famine has occurred in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris has also\u00a0expressed sympathy<\/a>\u00a0for anti-Israel protesters on US university campuses. In an interview published earlier this month, Harris said that college students protesting Israel\u2019s defensive military efforts against Hamas are \u201cshowing exactly what the human emotion should be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don\u2019t mean to wholesale endorse their points,\u201d she added. \u201cBut we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some indicators suggest that Harris could adopt a more antagonistic approach to the Jewish state than Biden. For example, Harris urged the White House to be more \u201csympathetic\u201d toward Palestinians and take a \u201ctougher\u201d\u00a0stance against\u00a0Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a\u00a0Politico<\/em>\u00a0report in December. In March, White House aides\u00a0forced\u00a0Harris to tone down a speech that was too tough on Israel, according to NBC News.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, she did not rule out \u201cconsequences\u201d for Israel if it launched a large-scale military offensive to\u00a0root out Hamas battalions<\/a>\u00a0in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing humanitarian concerns for the civilian population.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harris initially called for an \u201cimmediate ceasefire\u201d before Biden and has often used more pointed language when discussing the war, Israel, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. However, her advisers have sought to downplay the notion that she may be tougher on the Jewish state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference is not in substance but probably in tone,\u201d one of Harris\u2019s advisers told\u00a0The Nation<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Halie Soifer, who served as national security adviser to\u00a0Harris\u00a0<\/span>during the then-senator\u2019s first two years in Congress, said\u00a0the current vice president\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>support for Israel has been just as strong as Biden\u2019s. \u201cThere really has been no daylight to be found\u201d between the two, she told Reuters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Biden, 81, has a decades-long history of maintaining relationships with Israeli leaders and recently\u00a0called himself a \u201cZionist.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Harris, 59, does not have such a connection to the Jewish state and maintains closer ties to Democratic progressives, many of whom have increasingly\u00a0called for the US to turn away<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 or at least adopt a tougher approach toward \u2014 Israel<\/span><\/p>\n

Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman suggested that Harris would be a far less reliable ally than Biden, pointing to her ideological alignment with the most progressive lawmakers in Congress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBiden made many mistakes regarding Israel, but he is miles ahead of Harris in terms of support for Israel,\u201d Friedman told\u00a0The Jerusalem Post<\/em>. \u201cShe is on the fringe of the progressive wing of the party, which sympathizes more with the Palestinian cause.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will move Jewish voters to the Republican side,\u201d the former ambassador argued. \u201cHarris lacks any affinity for Israel, and the Democratic Convention will highlight this contrast. This could lead to a historic shift of Jewish voters to the Republican side.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, J Street, a progressive Zionist organization, eagerly endorsed Harris the day after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, citing her \u201cnuanced, balanced approach\u201d on the Israeli-Palestinian conflictt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKamala Harris has been a powerful advocate for J Street\u2019s values in the White House, from the fight against antisemitism to the need for a nuanced, balanced approach on Israel-Palestine,\u201d J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement. \u201cShe\u2019s been a steadfast supporter of hostage families and Israel\u2019s security, while also being a leading voice for the protection of Palestinian civilians and the need to secure an urgent ceasefire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kamala Harris\u2019s Record on Israel Raises Questions About Support for Jewish State if Elected US President Corey Walker US Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: Erin Schaff\/Pool via REUTERS Following US President\u00a0Joe Biden\u2019s stunning exit\u00a0from the 2024 presidential race, allies of Israel are looking for clues as to how Vice President Kamala Harris, the new presumptive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114508"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114520,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114508\/revisions\/114520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}