Uncommitted Movement Welcomes Biden's Decision to Step Aside Hoping Harris Will Change Course on Gaza

Vice President Kamala Harris has the backing of enough Democratic delegates to secure the party’s presidential nomination, with Democrats planning to hold a virtual roll call in the coming days to formalize her place atop the ticket ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August. The Democratic Party has quickly coalesced around Harris following President Joe Biden’s stunning decision Sunday to drop his reelection bid, but questions remain about whether she will significantly alter Middle East policy. The “uncommitted” movement of voters seeking to pressure Democrats to stop U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza “breathed a sigh of relief” when Biden dropped out, says Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid, an adviser to the movement, and activists are hopeful for Harris to take a new approach. Shahid adds that the Democratic Party cannot cast itself as a champion of democracy standing against far-right authoritarianism while continuing to arm the extremist Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it “makes a mockery of our party’s claim to be fighting on the right side of history.”