Kamala Harris to chart ‘new direction’ on Israel from Biden, could condition further aid
Vice President Kamala Harris in her latest flip-flip is charting “a new direction” on Israel, a House Democrat has said, as the Democratic presidential nominee now would reportedly back conditions on US aid to the Jewish state if she wins in November.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that he had been “pushing” Harris to attach conditions to aid for Israel, as the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip nears its 11th month.
“I’ve been pushing her to support the enforcement of US law. That is what the enforcement of the Leahy Law and our security laws require, that we don’t have unconditional aid,” Khanna told host Kristen Welker.
“And Kristen, this isn’t unprecedented. In 1982, after the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon, President Reagan called up Menachem Begin in Israel and said, ‘We will not give aid in a way that’s going to cause humanitarian crises,’” he added.
“So we need to have pressure on both sides to end the war. And I’m glad the Vice President’s open to a new direction,” Khanna also said.
“Has she expressed openness, though, to conditioning aid to you directly, in some of your conversations?” Welker asked.
“No. I will leave that for the Vice President to articulate. But what she has — her team has expressed openness is to a new direction,” he restated.
Harris, 59, has publicly affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense, while anti-Israel “uncommitted” voter groups have claimed she is open to privately discussing an arms embargo on Israel.
The floated flip-flop comes after a poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations this month found Harris had just 29% support among Muslim Americans in the 2024 election – tying even with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.
Asked in her first media interview last week as the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris declined to answer whether she would withhold any aid to Israel.
“I’m unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself, and that’s not going to change,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash, before adding: “How it does so matters.”
“Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, and we have got to get a deal done,” she said, in reference to a cease-fire deal that has taken on new urgency since Saturday when six Israeli hostages — one of whom was a US citizen — were executed by Hamas.
It comes after the campaign shakeup in mid-July, when President Biden withdrawing his candidacy and Harris replacing him — without a primary vote — on the 2024 ticket.
In a break from Biden, Harris and her top foreign policy adviser, Philip Gordon, are apparently now both open to imposing conditions on military aid to Israel, sources recently told the Washington Post.
The Leahy Laws, named for former Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), prohibit US funding from going to units of foreign nations’ militaries or security forces that have committed gross human rights violations.
The International Criminal Court sought arrest warrants in May for war crimes allegedly committed by both top Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and Hamas leaders.
However, Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken swiftly denounced the “outrageous” move.
“Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said in response.
A State Department report in May also concluded that it was “reasonable to assess” some US-supplied arms were used by the Israeli military in ways that are “inconsistent” with international humanitarian laws — but no specific proof was found.
That report came after Biden paused a weapons shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs in an attempt to forestall the Israel Defense Forces planned invasion of Rafah, a Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza that had roughly one million civilians.
Harris had opposed an investigation of alleged war crimes by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza in 2021 — but since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion has always mentioned her support for the Jewish state alongside the death toll in Gaza.
Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, during their invasion and took 240 hostages back to Gaza.
The more than 10-month Israeli military campaign in the densely populated region – where Hamas is known to use civilians as “human shields” – has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
Khanna was one of 37 House Democrats who voted against an aid bill in April that approved $17 billion in funding for Israel’s military and $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other war-torn regions.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.