President Biden’s dramatic announcement of his withdrawal from the presidential race and the expected nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party candidate are changing the election system in the United States. Even before Biden’s announcement, the polls predicted a close race between Trump and Harris, if she is to be the Democratic candidate, and she is now expected to win another boost.
As vice president, Harris struggled to stand out and shape her public image, just as she struggled to create a unifying and winning theme for her failed election campaign within the Democratic Party in 2020. However, she is known to be sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, befitting the former chief prosecutor of the state of California, and is expected to pose new challenges to Trump, especially in a public confrontation between the two. Her background—the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica—is both an advantage and an electoral problem.
As a senator from California, Harris was a member of the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees. As the vice president, she gained additional experience in foreign and security policy, among other things, in meetings with more than 150 foreign leaders.
Harris, who is married to a Jew, was the first to put a mezuzah at the entrance to the vice president’s residence and also celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and Hanukkah. Her husband highlighted his Jewish origin and served as the government’s liaison to the Jewish community. She has recently hosted a screening of Sheryl Sandberg’s film about the sexual assaults carried out by Hamas on October 7, emphasized that women were raped, and also met with the families of the hostages. Her stepdaughter, on the other hand, who does not identify as Jewish, put up a post after October 7 in which she called for donations to UNRWA and donated herself to a fund to help Palestinian children.
Harris is considered friendly to Israel but also critical, especially regarding the humanitarian issues in the war in Gaza. It is possible, of course, that she was asked by the White House to play the role of the “bad cop,” compared to the “good cop” Biden; yet her statements stood out for their harshness. Alongside the accepted statements regarding Israel’s right to defend itself, and the United States’ commitment to its security:
- Harris recognized Israel’s “legitimate right to act to eliminate Hamas,” which is a “brutal terrorist organization,” but stated that “it is not possible to create a parallel between the Palestinian people and Hamas.”
- She said in March that there is a “famine” and a “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza, that there are Gazans who were forced to “eat leaves and petfood to live on,” “women who gave birth to babies who suffer from malnutrition . . . children who die from malnutrition and dehydration,” and wondered what women in Gaza do in regards to feminine hygiene products. Harris called on Israel to significantly increase the flow of aid, “without excuses,” as well as an immediate ceasefire.
- Harris warned that “any major military operation” in Rafah would be a “big mistake” and hinted at punitive measures by saying that the president “is not ruling out any response.” According to Harris, she “checked the maps and there is nowhere for these people to go and we are talking about one and a half million people in Rafah.” She also emphasized “that we were very clear that too many innocent civilians were killed in Gaza . . . and that Israelis and Palestinians are entitled to equal measures of security and respect.”
- Harris reiterates and emphasizes her support for a two-state solution, that the United States works to end the conflict in ways that will guarantee the return of the hostages, end the suffering of the Palestinians, and guarantee “the right of the Palestinians to self-determination, dignity and freedom.”
- She said at the beginning of June that Israel formulated a proposal to end the conflict and that the prospects for a deal today are in the hands of Hamas, which “must” accept the Israeli proposal.
- She reportedly said behind closed doors that the US administration should take a firmer line toward Prime Minister Netanyahu.
President Biden’s dramatic announcement of his withdrawal from the presidential race and the expected nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party candidate are changing the election system in the United States. Even before Biden’s announcement, the polls predicted a close race between Trump and Harris, if she is to be the Democratic candidate, and she is now expected to win another boost.
As vice president, Harris struggled to stand out and shape her public image, just as she struggled to create a unifying and winning theme for her failed election campaign within the Democratic Party in 2020. However, she is known to be sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, befitting the former chief prosecutor of the state of California, and is expected to pose new challenges to Trump, especially in a public confrontation between the two. Her background—the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica—is both an advantage and an electoral problem.
As a senator from California, Harris was a member of the Intelligence and Homeland Security committees. As the vice president, she gained additional experience in foreign and security policy, among other things, in meetings with more than 150 foreign leaders.
Harris, who is married to a Jew, was the first to put a mezuzah at the entrance to the vice president’s residence and also celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Passover, and Hanukkah. Her husband highlighted his Jewish origin and served as the government’s liaison to the Jewish community. She has recently hosted a screening of Sheryl Sandberg’s film about the sexual assaults carried out by Hamas on October 7, emphasized that women were raped, and also met with the families of the hostages. Her stepdaughter, on the other hand, who does not identify as Jewish, put up a post after October 7 in which she called for donations to UNRWA and donated herself to a fund to help Palestinian children.
Harris is considered friendly to Israel but also critical, especially regarding the humanitarian issues in the war in Gaza. It is possible, of course, that she was asked by the White House to play the role of the “bad cop,” compared to the “good cop” Biden; yet her statements stood out for their harshness. Alongside the accepted statements regarding Israel’s right to defend itself, and the United States’ commitment to its security: