Harris Tries to Thread Needle on Gaza  07/26 06:11

   Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, 
is attempting to bridge divides within the party over the war in Gaza, 
emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating 
Palestinian suffering.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic 
nominee for president, is attempting to bridge divides within the party over 
the war in Gaza, emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself while also 
focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

   She delivered remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu on Thursday that reflected a delicate balancing act on one of the 
country's most divisive political issues. Some Democrats have been critical of 
President Joe Biden's steadfast support for Israel despite the increasing death 
toll among Palestinians, and Harris is trying to unite her party for the 
election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

   "We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," she said. "We cannot 
allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."

   Harris did not deviate from the administration's approach to the conflict, 
including grueling negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, releasing 
hostages held by Hamas and eventually rebuilding Gaza. She also said nothing 
about military assistance for Israel, which some Democrats want to cut.

   Instead, she tried to refocus the conversation around mitigating the 
calamity in Gaza, and she used language intended to nudge Americans toward an 
elusive middle ground.

   "The war in Gaza is not a binary issue," she said. "But too often, the 
conversation is binary when the reality is anything but."

   In addition, Harris made a more explicit appeal to voters who have been 
frustrated by the ceaseless bloodshed, which began when Hamas attacked Israel 
on Oct. 7.

   "To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire, and to everyone who 
yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you," she said.

   Harris' meeting with Netanyahu was private, and she described it as "frank 
and constructive." She also emphasized her longtime support for Israel, which 
includes raising money to plant trees in the country when she was a young girl.

   Jewish Americans traditionally lean Democratic, but Republicans have tried 
to make inroads. Trump claimed this week that Harris "is totally against the 
Jewish people" because she didn't attend Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting 
of Congress. The vice president was traveling in Indiana during the speech.

   Harris is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, who has played an outspoken 
role in the administration's efforts to combat antisemitism.

   Netanyahu did not speak publicly after his meeting with Harris. His trip was 
scheduled before Biden dropped his reelection bid, but the meeting with Harris 
was watched closely for clues to her views on Israel.

   "She is in a tricky situation and walking a tightrope where she's still the 
vice president and the president really is the one who leads on the foreign 
policy agenda," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat whose city is 
home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation. "But as the 
candidate, the presumptive nominee, she has to now create the space to 
differentiate in order for her to chart a new course."

   Protesters gathered outside Union Station on the day of Netanyahu's speech, 
ripping down American flags and spray painting "Hamas is coming."

   Harris sharply criticized those actions, saying there were "despicable acts 
by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. "

   "I support the right to peacefully protest, but let's be clear: 
Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation," she 
said in a statement.

   As vice president, Harris has tried to show little daylight between herself 
and Biden. But David Rothkopf, a foreign policy writer who has met with her, 
said there's been "a noticeable difference in tone, particularly in regards to 
concern for the plight of innocent Palestinians."

   The difference was on display in Selma, Alabama, in March, when Harris 
commemorated the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights in 
1965.

   During her speech, Harris said that "given the immense scale of suffering in 
Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire."

   The audience broke out in applause. A few sentences later, Harris emphasized 
that it was up to Hamas to accept the deal that had been offered. But her 
demand for a cease-fire still resonated in ways that Biden's comments had not.

   An AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that about 6 in 10 Democrats 
disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict between the Israelis and 
the Palestinians. Roughly the same number said Israel's military response in 
Gaza had gone too far.

   Israeli analysts said they doubted that Harris would present a dramatic 
shift in policies toward their country.

   Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and senior 
fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, 
said Harris was from a generation of American politicians who felt they could 
both support Israel and publicly criticize its policies.

   "The question is as president, what would she do?" Freilich said. "I think 
she would put considerably more pressure on Israel on the Palestinian issue 
overall."