Kamala Harris walks 'tightrope' on Israel, Gaza

Kamala Harris is walking a delicate line as she campaigns for the presidency: She is committed to Israel's right to defend itself after last year's Oct. 7 attack by Hamas — but also wants Israel to curb the violence it has inflicted on Gaza's civilians in the year since.

"Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself," she said in an October speech, according to NPR. But, she added, the "scale of suffering" in Gaza is "heartbreaking." Along with President Joe Biden, Harris has pushed for Israel to negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas that brings the remaining hostages home. But she has also been more vocal than Biden about the challenges and devastation Gazans have faced. The fighting must end, she said, so Palestinians can obtain "dignity, security, freedom and self determination."

Asked during a CBS News interview if she considers Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu a "real close ally," Harris hedged. "I think, with all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people," Harris said. "And the answer to that question is yes."

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A 'critical role' in the Middle East

Some observers believe that the U.S. has "lost influence" in its efforts to restrain Israel, Bloomberg said. And the Biden-Harris administration has come in for criticism from Arab-American voters who have "vocally opposed U.S. support for Israel" during the war. (Many of those voters are located in the critical swing state of Michigan.) But Harris says America still has a "critical role" in the Middle East, Bloomberg said, including in helping bring the war to an end. "And we're not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders," she said to CBS News.

It's not clear that American Arab voters are comfortable with that stance, Josephine Riesman and S.I. Rosenbaum said at Slate. The question is whether Harris would backtrack from Biden's "unwavering support" for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). "We need action, which means an arms embargo," said Natalia Latif, of the pro-Palestinian Uncommitted movement. But Harris has "little room to maneuver," Riesman and Rosenbaum said, given that a "huge part" of the Democratic Party base is "still deeply attached to Israel."

Seeking a two-state solution

Harris said she remains committed to a "two-state solution" that ultimately offers Palestinians their own state alongside Israel, PBS NewsHour said. "In that solution there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and in equal measure for the Palestinians," she said during the September debate with Donald Trump. But a plan to actually achieve the two-state solution, long favored by policymakers, has proven elusive for decades.

There are still many unknowns. It is believed that Harris "might be somewhat to Biden's left on Gaza," Nicole Narea said at Vox. But it is an "open question" what that would actually look like, policy-wise. It seems unlikely that Harris would "substantially deviate" from Biden's policies. The trick for her is to try to keep both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian voters in the Democratic tent. That, Narea said, leaves Harris "with a difficult political tightrope to walk."