Kamala Harris pushes W.H. to be more sympathetic toward Palestinians

Vice President Kamala Harris has been telling colleagues in the administration that she wants the White House to show more concern for the humanitarian damage in Gaza, where Israel is locked in a bloody and prolonged battle with Hamas, according to three people familiar with Harris' comments.

President Joe Biden is among the officials Harris has urged to show more sensitivity to Palestinian civilians, these people said.

In internal conversations about the war in Gaza, Harris has argued that it is time to start making “day after” plans for how to handle the wreckage of the war once the fighting ends, one senior administration official said.

One person close to the vice president’s office said she believes the United States should be “tougher” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; she has called for being “more forceful at seeking a long-term peace and two-state solution,” this person said.

The people characterizing Harris’s role and comments from the vice president and her team were granted anonymity in order to discuss private conversations.

Harris’ private push to shape the White House message about the war reflects the extent to which Democrats — even the top two officials in the country — are struggling to walk a careful line about the Israel-Hamas war, amid a gruesome conflict that has rattled the Democratic political coalition down to the local level.

It also underscores the delicacy of the tight political partnership that Harris has developed with Biden, despite some longstanding differences in perspective. She has long been more attuned to criticism from the left than her more moderate running mate, and more determined to align herself with younger and more progressive constituencies in the Democratic Party.

In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which left more than a thousand civilians dead and hundreds more kidnapped as hostages, Harris urged Biden to make sure he condemned Islamophobia at the same time as he spoke out against anti-Semitism. The Washington Post reported last month that Harris convinced Biden to add a line denouncing Islamophobia in his Oct. 10 speech on the outbreak of war.

Since then, Biden, Harris and other administration officials have grown increasingly willing to criticize Israel’s approach to battling Hamas, including this week when the president issued a stark warning to the Israeli government about the potential political consequences of its ferocious military offensive.

The president condemned what he called “indiscriminate bombing” — a criticism he’s previously leveled — and called on the hardline Netanyahu government to “change” its methods.

In recent weeks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have also rebuked Israel for the toll of its military operation on ordinary Palestinians, with Austin cautioning that Israel risked a “strategic defeat” if it continued incurring such heavy civilian casualties.Harris herself has modulated her rhetoric over time. In early November, she said the U.S. would not “create any conditions on the support” it offered Israel in the war. Since then, parts of the Democratic base have grown more skeptical of Israel’s approach to the war and international sympathy for the embattled nation has appeared to fray.

More recently, Harris has spoken out about Israel’s military tactics in stern terms. After meeting in Dubai with leaders from Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, Harris reiterated that Israel had a right to defend itself — but added that “it matters how” Israel goes about that task.

“The United States is unequivocal: International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering, and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating. It is truly heartbreaking.”

After those comments in Dubai, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, told reporters at the White House that there was no difference between how Harris and the president assessed the war and its impact on civilians.

“There’s no daylight on that,” Sullivan said.

A senior administration official disputed that there was any divergence in perspective or priorities between Biden and Harris, and said that humanitarian concerns had been at the forefront of their thinking from the start.

“From day 1, the President, the Vice President, and their advisers have been aligned and adamant that humanitarian aid must be provided, civilians must be protected, and we must remain committed to a Palestinian state,” a senior administration official granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations told POLITICO. “No one needed to be convinced of that; there were no outliers. This has been the consensus view and remains the consensus view from the President on down.”

The official added that “the President and Vice President have been consistent in public and private about these policy priorities.”

Despite the administration’s insistence that no gap exists, the perception that Harris has inched toward a more critical position than Biden’s has rippled through Democratic groups and advocacy organizations deeply involved in the debate over Israel and its conduct in Gaza.

“She’s using stronger language regarding the Israelis needing to not harm civilians,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of the Muslim advocacy group Emgage, who speculated that Harris’s personal identity might play a role in her thinking.

“She’s a woman of color who is attuned to various racial and social justice issues so this might be a reflection of that,” Alzayat said, noting that Harris’s efforts could be aimed at “chipping away at the terrible numbers” Biden is recording with young people in polls these days.

A pro-Israel Democrat who is close to Harris also said there had been “blowback” among some pro-Israel advocates over her recent comments. This person argued that the administration’s record of shipping weapons to Israel and seeking more aid from Congress was more important than any gradations in rhetoric from top officials.

Harris has played a limited outward role in the administration’s diplomacy around the war, but as on most matters she has been a close partner for Biden in private. She has joined Biden on 14 calls with Netanyahu, according to her office, as well as calls Biden has made to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Qatar and Egypt.

Her remarks in Dubai during the COP 28 climate summit represented her most prominent public involvement in the Israel-Hamas war so far.

Harris has suggested that conversations with friends have influenced her thinking about the war. In London last month, she told reporters that she had a friend who had lost relatives in Gaza to the war.

“I have a friend, who I talked with recently, who has family in Gaza and has lost a number of the members of her family — innocent civilians,” Harris said. “So, let me start by saying that it is absolutely tragic when there is ever, anywhere, any loss of innocent life, of innocent civilians, of children.”

Harris has also made a point, according to her office, to talk to both Israeli and Palestinian community members, including those who have lost family members in Gaza. Her office said Harris spoke recently with the families of two American hostages, Liat Beinin and Abigail Edan, who were freed by Hamas during the recent pause in fighting.

For certain segments of the electorate that have soured on Biden over his defense of Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, Harris’s approach has earned plaudits. Arab American and Muslim leaders said that they were pleased to see Harris’ remarks in Dubai — though they are looking for more than words at this point.

“I thought it was encouraging,” said Warren David, president of the media organization Arab America. “At the same time, it doesn’t really mean anything, it’s empty, if there’s no action being taken.”

He added, “if she’s influencing the president to stop the genocide in Gaza, I welcome that.”

Alexander Ward contributed to this report.