What Kamala Harris said about the Israel and Gaza war

Vice President Kamala Harris is considered to be to the left of President Joe Biden on the issue of the Gaza war and Israeli policy. As the likely Democratic presidential nominee, she is expected to take a somewhat more critical stance toward Israel’s military behavior – and an even tougher stance if she wins the election, experts tell Al-Monitor.

“We don’t know enough,” David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute and a member of the U.S. negotiating team in the 2013-2014 Israeli-Palestinian talks, told Al-Monitor. “On the one hand, she warns about the signals coming from Israel that contain an element of anti-Semitism. On the other hand, she has been quite outspoken about Palestinian suffering in Gaza.”

In making his assessment, Makovsky referred to the speech Harris gave in Dubai last December, when she said Israel must “do more to protect the lives of civilians (in Gaza).” Harris reiterated the Biden administration’s stance that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas following the Gaza-based group’s attack on southern Israel on October 7. She also expressed concern about the widespread suffering of Palestinians and warned that “international humanitarian law must be respected.”

Unlike senior members of Biden’s foreign policy and defense team – including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Biden himself – Harris has not traveled to Israel since October 7. While Biden has dealt with Netanyahu for four decades and touts their close relationship despite the obvious deterioration in recent months, Harris has met the Israeli prime minister only a handful of times.

Harris on the Gaza War

At the Munich Security Conference in February, Harris said Hamas had used the rape of Israeli women as a weapon of war. But she added: “We have also made clear that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and that Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians.” On that occasion, Harris also called on Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. She stated: “In my opinion, there can be no peace and security for this region – neither for Israel nor for the Palestinians and the people of Gaza – without a two-state solution.”

Harris’ call to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza was not noticeably different from Biden’s statements. Unlike Biden, however, Harris went into more detail about the suffering of Gaza residents in a July 8 interview with The Nation. “I ask questions like: What are people actually eating right now (in Gaza)? I hear stories about them eating animal feed and grass… so that’s how I think about it,” The Nation quoted Harris as saying.

Meanwhile, Harris’ aides indicated on Monday that the vice president will not preside over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday because she already has a trip planned. However, Harris will attend her meeting with Netanyahu in Washington at the White House. According to Politico, Harris is expected to ask Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza during their meeting.

However, because Harris has less foreign policy experience than Biden, many of her foreign policy positions appear to align with her boss’s. Harris referred to the issue of West Bank settlement and extremist settlers when she met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Washington last November. A White House transcript after the meeting said Harris “addressed the need to increase stability and security in the West Bank and to hold extremist settlers accountable for acts of violence.” The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on several individuals and entities accused of committing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Obama remake?

Israeli and American experts warn that it is too early to have a clear picture of Harris’s policies toward Israel in general and the Gaza war in particular, as she has not yet been officially nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate. Nevertheless, many point out that she has a weaker sentimental and ideological attachment to Israel than Biden, who describes himself as a Zionist.

“Biden is a unique historical figure because he has been in office for decades. He sees himself as someone who is deeply ideologically committed to Israel,” Makovsky said.

“Despite the fact that she is married to a Jewish man, grew up in a Jewish political environment and has many Jewish friends, that does not mean that she has an emotional attachment to Israel like Biden or former President Bill Clinton have,” former consul general in New York, adviser and chief of staff to four foreign ministers and Haaretz columnist Alon Pinkas tells Al-Monitor.

Pinkas said Harris would likely take a similar line to former President Barack Obama on regional issues. “The Middle East is, after all, a foreign policy issue, and she thinks primarily of the United States, not Israel,” he said. Although Obama signed the largest military aid package to Israel in history in 2016 — worth $38 billion over 10 years — he was viewed by many Israelis as an enemy of the Jewish state, and his relationship with Netanyahu was very frosty.

Three and a half months before the presidential election and as she tries to unify her own party, Harris finds herself in a difficult position: She wants to signal continuity in Biden’s foreign policy while mobilizing younger voters who oppose Biden’s policy on the Gaza war. “Harris needs to show more understanding for the younger generation that has protested on campus (against the Gaza war) or in the state of Michigan against Biden’s policies,” Pinkas said. “She will have to distance herself somewhat from Biden, but she will keep it very minimal,” since Israel is not a central issue in the American presidential election, which will be dominated by immigration and inflation.