Kamala Harris reaffirms support for Israel while condemning humanitarian situation in Gaza
US Vice President Kamala Harris has officially accepted her candidacy for the presidential election on 5 November, becoming the first African-American woman of Asian descent to run for the White House.
In what is arguably one of the most important speeches of her career, Harris laid out her domestic and international agenda, reclaiming her origins and warning of the ‘extremely serious’ consequences of a new term of office for former president Donald Trump.
Vice President Harris: With this election our nation has a precious and fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a New Way Forward, not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans pic.twitter.com/s1tA0gTZEo
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 23, 2024
The Middle East outlook was one of the main topics addressed by the vice-president on the international stage in her closing speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way to Harris, speculation has grown about the vice president's views on the war in Gaza, since, despite not breaking with the Biden administration's generally favourable stance towards Israel, Harris has been perceived as slightly more pro-Palestinian than the president.
During her speech, Harris made her position on the conflict clear with the strongest statements yet, supporting Israel's right to defend itself, but also condemning the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Kamala Harris at the DNC:
“I will always stand up for Israel’s right to exist and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” pic.twitter.com/tfqmcfg8Fi— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) August 23, 2024
‘I want to be clear: I will always defend Israel's right to defend itself and I will always make sure that Israel has the ability to defend itself,’ the presidential hopeful declared, adding that Israelis should “never again” suffer the horror and “unspeakable” attacks of 7 October, “including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival”.
Harris also described the situation in Gaza as ‘devastating’. ‘So many innocent lives have been lost. The scale of the suffering is heartbreaking,’ the Democratic hopeful said, recalling the high number of “hungry people fleeing for safety, time and time again”.
Harris already conveyed her position on the war to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit to the US at the end of July. She assured him of her ‘unwavering commitment to Israel’, but said she ‘will not remain silent’ on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The vice-president referred to the efforts of her government and its allies in the Middle East to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which, in turn, could significantly reduce tension in the region.
In this sense, Harris recalled that the Biden Administration was working to put an end to the war in Gaza with the aim of making ‘Israel safe’ and freeing the more than 100 hostages, as well as so that ‘the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination’.
Days before Harris' historic speech, the parents of one of the US hostages still being held by Hamas spoke about their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose arm was blown off by a grenade before Hamas loaded him into a van and took him to Gaza.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents full speech. pic.twitter.com/4imen7kbR1
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) August 21, 2024
‘Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish that Jon and I and all the families of the hostages are going through,’ said the 23-year-old's mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who has become a leading voice for the families of the hostages.
Harris says he has ‘no hesitation’ in defending US interests against Iran
The Hamas attack and the ensuing war in Gaza have provoked an escalation of tension and violence in the Middle East that threatens to continue to grow. Here, the Islamic Republic of Iran plays a key role as the main sponsor of armed groups in the region, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq.
All these groups have as their objective - set by Tehran - the destruction of the State of Israel, the exit of the United States from the region and the expansion of the Iranian regime in the Middle East.
Aware that Iran's actions also represent a threat to the US, Harris has stressed his tough stance towards Tehran, assuring that he will ‘not hesitate’ to defend US interests against Iran.
On Ukraine, the other major war of concern to Washington, Harris pledged to ‘stand firmly behind’ Kiev against Russian aggression, as well as all NATO allies.
At the national level, Harris addressed key campaign issues such as immigration and abortion, stressing that ‘many fundamental freedoms’ are at stake in this election, such as ‘the freedom to live safe from gun violence in schools, communities and places of worship’.
Donald Trump and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 23, 2024
Simply put, they are out of their minds. pic.twitter.com/l2uxAI75of
As she has said before, Harris stressed that this election ‘is not only the most important in our lifetimes’, but ‘one of the most important in the nation’.
The vice president warned that Trump's return to the White House would have ‘extremely serious’ consequences. ‘You have to look not only at the chaos that occurred when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election,’ Harris said, referring to the assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters on 6 January 2021 and the former president's criminal convictions, including his sexual assault charge.
