Some Democrats hope for 'pivot' on Israel with Harris at top of ticket: 'Chart a new course'
Some Democrats are hoping Vice President Harris will "pivot" on some of the administration's Israel policies as she is likely to take President Biden's position at the top of the Democratic ticket.
"It’s very important for her to try to pivot here," a Palestinian American analyst who is connected to the president's team told Politico. "Obviously, she’s not going to make a 180-degree turn on Israel policy, but politically, it would be useful for the Democrats for them to signal to their base in a genuine way that there’s change coming."
President Biden has been widely criticized by the progressive wing of his party over his support for Israel.
"Kamala has an opportunity to reach out to Arab Americans and other voters who have felt completely dehumanized and disenfranchised by President Biden’s policies on Gaza," Jasmine El-Gamal, a former Defense Department official, told the outlet.
"Kamala Harris has the opportunity to chart a new course and to be more receptive to the American people," Yasmine Taeb, a progressive activist who supported the "uncommitted" efforts by some Democrats during the primary, told Politico.
Harris defended the anti-Israel protesters that have been demonstrating across campuses during an interview in early July.
"They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza," Harris told The Nation in an interview, which focused on the possibility of Harris replacing Biden in the presidential race.
"There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it," she added.
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Harris also said during the interview that she has asked her staffers about the conditions in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, including what people were eating and if women had access to sanitary pads.
"I like to cook. So I said to my team, 'You can’t make s--- with flour if you don’t have clean water.' So what’s going on with that? I ask questions like, ‘What are people actually eating right now? I’m hearing stories about their eating animal feed, grass’ … so that’s how I think about it," she said.
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Biden is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. The president recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has been isolating in his home in Delaware.
Netanyahu is also set to deliver a speech in front of Congress on Wednesday, though Harris will not be attending due to a scheduling conflict.
Referring to Harris being absent for Netanyahu's upcoming Capitol Hill address, El-Gamal told Politico that the vice president "shouldn’t squander" her opportunity to pivot on Israel "by sitting behind an accused war criminal."
The vice president and likely Democratic presidential nominee is reportedly expected to meet with Netanyahu privately.