WASHINGTON, July 24 — Kamala Harris’s outspoken stance on the Gaza war points to a possible shift away from Joe Biden’s Israel policy — which she is eyeing for Democratic presidential nominee Benjamin Netanyahu — who is likely to find out this week.
The US vice president will be conspicuously absent from the Israeli leader’s speech to the US Congress today, in what analysts say is a clear signal of his concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
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The 59-year-old has never clashed with Biden in Israel. Time and again, however, he has been the US administration official most vocal in calling for a ceasefire in the conflict.
With Biden’s shock exit from the White House race, Harris has a chance to make a „clean slate” on an issue that risks alienating Democratic voters ahead of the November election, research director Colin Clark said. Soufan group.
„The Israel-Gaza issue is where there’s a lot of daylight between Biden and Harris, and I think there are going to be people within her camp who are going to push her to make that difference obvious,” he told AFP.
’The Greatest Suffering’
Biden strongly supported Israel’s war on Hamas after the group’s October 7 attacks, and continued military aid despite tensions with Netanyahu.
Hamas’ attacks on southern Israel killed 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The gunmen also took 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 44 dead, the Israeli military says.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,090 people, most civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
While Harris did not break from Biden on the issue, his reporting on the conflict — which saw swaths of Gaza reduced to rubble — was more nuanced.
In March, he made the strongest remarks by any US administration official to date when he called for a ceasefire agreement to end „immense suffering” and criticized Israel for not providing enough aid to Gaza.
The message was underscored by the site of the first black U.S. vice president to deliver it in Selma, Alabama, where a civil rights march was violently suppressed by police on what became known as „Bloody Sunday” in 1965.
He pushed the envelope on what the White House was saying about the death toll and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
’Unwavering Commitment’
The issue will now come to the fore when Netanyahu visits Washington this week.
Biden and Harris will hold separate meetings with the Israeli prime minister, reflecting the outgoing president’s new reality and his expected transition as the Democratic contender.
Harris’s camp says a previously planned campaign trip to the black community in Indianapolis means he won’t be able to fulfill his usual vice presidential role of chairing Congress during Netanyahu’s visit.
His staff moved quickly to play down suggestions of a snub.
„His trip to Indianapolis on July 24 should not be seen as a change in his stance on Israel,” an aide told AFP, noting his „unwavering commitment” to its defense.
Despite the president’s staunch support for Israel, Biden, whose tensions with Netanyahu have openly flared in recent months, will also miss the speech.
Clarke said Harris’ decision was not a „cold shoulder” but „clearly, if she wants to be there, she can be…hey, it’s a signal that things are going to be different.”
’Organized Public Dispute’
The Gaza war is a major factor in the US presidential election.
Biden’s policy angered a large number of Democratic voters and threatened his party’s hopes of winning the swing state of Michigan, home to a large Arab-American population.
Harris and his family have resolved a political divide over the issue. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish wife of a president or vice president, has made a series of public appearances since October 7 to denounce growing anti-Semitism.
Peter Lodge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, said Harris’ battle with Biden „could be a planned public spat.”
He added that it would also help differentiate her from Trump’s „all-in” support for Israel.
„Harris has taken a slightly nuanced position that acknowledges those concerns while still supporting Israel — to create some distance to make that group (those outraged by support for Israel) feel okay,” Lodge said. – AFP