Harris’ views on Israel are in the spotlight as Netanyahu visits Washington

WASHINGTON – In her first week as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris will confront the most politically divisive issue in U.S. foreign policy as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pays an official visit to Washington.

Netanyahu’s trip throws a spotlight on the views of Harris, who has emerged as a forceful voice on the Israel-Hamas war, particularly in discussing the plight of innocent Palestinians. In a civil rights speech in Selma, Alabama, this year, Harris garnered widespread attention for calling for an “immediate cease-fire” and assailing Israel for creating a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip.

Harris will meet privately with the Israeli leader at the White House. But her remarks before and after their conversation will be closely watched for signals about her approach to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza should she win the White House in November.

President Joe Biden, who will meet with Netanyahu on Thursday, has seen his popularity dive among progressive Democratic voters as he has resisted their pleas to halt the flow of American arms to Israel. The damage has been acute in key battleground states such as Michigan. Democrats hope that Harris will be largely free of that stigma and can win back those liberals who have said they could never vote for Biden because of his Israel policies.

Harris plans to skip Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, White House officials say, which surely will not hurt that effort. She will instead keep a long-standing commitment to speak at an event in Indiana hosted by one of the country’s largest historically Black sororities.

Although Harris has been seen as more sharply critical of the war in Gaza than Biden has been, she is not expected to express views to Netanyahu in their meeting that differ from current policy.

It is unclear how much her views do differ. Even her call for a cease-fire, which generated headlines suggesting new U.S. pressure on Israel, was consistent with Biden’s position – a demand that Hamas accept an Israeli proposal to stop the fighting in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza. But her tone and emphasis on human suffering marked a drastic rhetorical turning point for how the administration discussed the cost of the war.

Still, how Harris navigates the week will be closely watched, experts and voters say, particularly for signs of a shift on the intensely debated question of whether the United States should condition military aid to Israel to limit Palestinian civilian casualties.

Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department last fall in protest over Biden’s continued arms deliveries to Israel, cautioned that political dynamics would limit Harris’ ability to make dramatic changes. But he said that Harris “would certainly show more pragmatism and flexibility than Biden has, and in her public commentary has also demonstrated a far more humanizing approach to the Palestinians in the past year.”

During the sit-down with Netanyahu, Harris is expected to reiterate U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,200 people. She will also convey her deep concerns about the Palestinian death toll, which has surpassed 38,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and make the administration’s case that Netanyahu should try to clinch a cease-fire deal with Hamas as soon as possible.

There is no evidence that Harris has mounted internal challenges against Biden’s policy toward Israel. But she had pressed administration officials, including the president, to express more sympathy for Palestinians as the death toll soared in Gaza. And analysts say she played a notable public role by expressing sharper criticism of Netanyahu’s government than Biden was able to muster, for either personal or diplomatic reasons.

Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Harris had demonstrated a “capacity for public empathy” toward the Palestinians.

“That’s something the president himself has clearly struggled with,” he said. “And empathy is not something you can fake. I think people see through it. And I think that’s been the biggest difference.”

Elgindy said it was hard to know whether Harris might intend to shift U.S. policy on Israel if she is elected. But he and other analysts said she does not seem to share the same emotional connection to Israel as does Biden, who has called himself a Zionist.

Harris has also impressed some war critics and irritated Israel hawks with expressions of sympathy for campus activists protesting the war. “They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza,” Harris told The Nation magazine. While noting that the protesters have said some things “that I absolutely reject,” she added, “I understand the emotion behind it.”

In an interview with the Israeli news site Ynet on Tuesday, Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, said of Harris: “Overall her record is positive, and she has often expressed support for the state of Israel, and support for American aid to Israel.” But he added that in recent months, Harris had “made quite a few problematic statements in the context of the war in Gaza,” something he suggested was influenced by “the more progressive camp in the Democratic Party.”

“Is this something that will continue to follow us in the future as well?” he said. “We will have to see and of course have a dialogue with her about these things.”

Some analysts note that Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish, and has taken an active stand against the rise of antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere. But Jewish Americans themselves are sharply divided on U.S. policy toward Israel, and his personal views are unclear.

Harris has been largely spared the protests and vitriol that have hounded Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other U.S. officials, who have been shouted down for abetting “genocide.”

A national group created in protest of the war to urge voters in several states to cast “uncommitted” votes has expressed cautious optimism in Harris.

Aides to Harris said she remained unwavering in her support of Israel. She has been equally forceful in her condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas assault, and just last month held a forum highlighting the sexual violence perpetuated against Israeli victims during the attacks. She has also met with families of American hostages.

Aides say she has been engaged with Israeli officials, having spoken regularly with President Isaac Herzog as well as Benny Gantz, a former member of Israel’s war Cabinet. She has participated in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.

Joel Rubin, a national security expert who has worked with the pro-Israel organizations, said that Harris’ actions this week were unlikely to upset the status quo.

“People on the left might be mad at her for meeting with the prime minister, people on the right might be mad at her for not sitting behind him” during his address to Congress, said Rubin, who also served as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration. “But she’s taking the position of an American leader who is balancing her responsibilities.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.