Kamala Harris’s challenge with juggling the Middle East - opinion

Jewish voters are more divided about Israel today than ever. Like most Israelis, they are angered with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and failure to bring the hostages home, but it began earlier when he installed an anti-democratic religious-nationalist coalition bent on destroying the independent judiciary – and, not incidentally, helping to keep him out of prison.

During the 19 tumultuous months of this extremist government, US policy has been guided by President Joe Biden, with his half-century record as an unabashed friend of Israel: He has it in his kishkes. He reluctantly decided to pass the torch to a new generation in the person of his vice president Kamala Harris, a relative newcomer to the always complex Mideast situation.

Biden is the last of a generation of presidents born before the creation of the modern state of Israel and who witnessed its struggle for survival. Harris was born less than three years before the Six-Day War, when Israel became a regional superpower.

Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, she needed to articulate her commitment to the US-Israel alliance at a time when sympathy for Palestinian suffering in Gaza was growing along with anger toward what many see as Netanyahu’s indifference to the tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians killed, injured and displaced.

Keeping everyone in one tent

Harris’s challenge as the new leader of the Democratic Party and its candidate for president was to reassure Israel’s supporters while keeping sympathizers with the Palestinian cause inside the same tent.

The presidential candidate reassured friends of Israel that she remains a true ally but also told Palestinians she is sympathetic to their plight and supports their desire for self-determination. Her call for a ceasefire and return of the hostages brought some of the most energetic cheers of the evening from supporters on both sides of the conflict.

Bring them home

In one of the more emotional moments of the convention, the crowd began chanting “Bring them home” as the parents of Israel-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin came on stage. Thousands of delegates stood, some in tears – even some wearing keffiyehs in sympathy with the Palestinians, JTA reported. The Jewish couple thanked Biden and Harris for working “tirelessly” for a ceasefire and return of the hostages and an end to the “suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza.”

Harris resisted demands for a pro-Palestinian speaker to address the convention, knowing it would not only drive away marginal Jewish voters but give more fodder for Donald Trump’s attacks on her and Democrats as anti-Israel.

Politico called this “the most divisive issue” facing the Democratic coalition – and there’s no solution in sight, especially as long as both Netanyahu and Hamas keep coming up with new obstacles to a ceasefire, apparently preferring to see the fighting and killing continue.

Anti-Israel demonstrations in and around the convention venue fizzled, with smaller than promised turnout. Minnesota Attorney-General Keith Ellison, who had been the first Muslim elected to Congress, took a moderate tone in telling the convention that Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, “say we need a ceasefire and an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza, and to bring hostages home.”

Many speakers echoed that thought, most importantly Harris herself, which gave needed reassurance to both sides and probably made Netanyahu nervous. If elected, she plans to continue Biden’s policies but without the old personal relationship, suggesting she may be unlikely to indulge Netanyahu, whose antics have become so destructive.

“Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris said. “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost… The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

Her defense of Israel, contempt for Hamas and sympathy for the Palestinians brought some of the most enthusiastic cheers of the evening. It was a reassurance to both sides that they will have her ear – and a warning for Netanyahu.

The prime minister’s seeming indifference to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the enormous casualty toll, his continued shifting the goal posts in ceasefire negotiations, and the perception among Israelis and many Americans of his indifference to the plight of the hostages have damaged Israel’s stature in America and brought new sympathy for the Palestinian cause.

Donald Trump

And it is not just Biden and Harris: Trump has also, on more than one occasion, let it be known that he does not trust the Israeli leader either, although he will likely mute that during the campaign while he ratchets up his phony charges that Harris “hates Jews” and “hates Israel.”

That’s another worrisome signal to a prime minister looking to Washington for billions in financial aid (grants now, but Trump has been talking about making that loans) and diplomatic, political and strategic support. The US Air Force just delivered its 500th aerial shipment of weapons and military supplies to Israel since October 7.

Trump's rhetoric and record of support for Israel remain popular among some more hardline elements of the Jewish community, despite his history of antisemitism and his empowerment of some of the most antisemitic elements in American society. He not only accused Harris of hating Jews and hating Israel but attacked Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and highest-ranking Jew ever in American politics, as “Hamas” and “Palestinian.”

Trump said the reason Harris did not pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate was because he’s Jewish. The governor responded that the disgraced former president is “someone who has routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this” and who “has a long history of spewing antisemitic [and] racist tropes.”

His attacks on Schumer, Shapiro, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Doug Emhoff, Harris’s husband, are part of his pattern of hate. As columnist Michelle Goldberg noted, those four “showed which party really welcomes Jews.”

Trump prides himself on name-calling and childish invented nicknames for people he dislikes. He has called Harris a Marxist, communist, fascist, comrade Kamala, pro-crime, anti-police and intentionally mispronouncing her name. The vice president had a single-word put down that seemed to expose the emptiness of the real estate huckster: “Trump is an unserious man.”

Trump is more than an antisemite. He is an equal opportunity bigot who hates more than just Jews. As Schumer pointed out, “his prejudice goes in all directions. He fuels Islamophobia and issued a Muslim ban as president.”

That reputation may help Harris keep Arab, Muslim-American and other Palestinian supporters in her column on November 5 despite disappointment about the Biden administration’s seeming tolerance of Netanyahu’s destructive antics.

Emhoff has been the administration’s point man in combating antisemitism and has said he intends to make that a central element of his portfolio if he becomes first gentleman. He also has said he’d like to nail the first mezuzah on the White House door.

The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.