The vice president can’t afford to repel supporters of Israel, a key Democratic constituency, as she works to win back some voters alienated by President Biden’s policy on the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting on Thursday with President Biden and later — separately — with Vice President Harris as the nine-month-long war in Gaza continues to remain a political liability for Democrats heading into a presidential election.
Netanyahu’s visit comes at a critical moment in American politics: with four months to the election, the White House is eager to secure a cease-fire deal to end Israel’s war with Hamas, which began last October with the militant group’s attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.
Israel’s response has killed 39,000 Palestinians, a significant proportion of them civilians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. A potential deal to end the conflict will undoubtedly be a focus of Biden and Harris’ meetings with Israel’s leader.
Harris, who is now the likely Democratic presidential nominee, inherits this war as she attempts to maintain a delicate balancing act in a race where one misplaced word on the conflict can cost her support in key states that Democrats need to keep the White House.
She is maintaining the administration’s support of Israel and trying to not alienate supporters of the Jewish state, who make up a key Democratic constituency. But she is also expressing sympathy for Palestinian civilians killed in the conflict and trying to win back some of the young, progressive, Black and Brown voters whom Biden alienated with his response to the war.Harris and the humanitarian cost of the conflict
As Biden’s vice president, Harris has remained in lockstep with the president on policy, including his steadfast commitment to the security of Israel.
“Vice President Harris has gone even a step further in taking a leadership role in condemning the horrific sexual violence that was perpetrated by Hamas,” said Halie Soifer, who served as national security adviser to Harris in the Senate and now runs the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
