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【Text/Lin Zhaonan, Observer Network】

According to CNN, on Thursday (25th) local time, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, US Vice President Harris stated that she "will not remain silent about the suffering in Gaza" and urged Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible. This statement contrasts with Biden's support for Israel in more than half a year, increasing speculation about her foreign policy.

Harris stressed that Israel has the right to defend itself, but how it defends itself is crucial. She described the devastating impact of the situation in Gaza over the past nine months, including the death of children, people fleeing hunger, and some even being displaced multiple times, and called for not turning a blind eye or becoming numb to these tragedies.

Since Hamas launched the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation in October last year, the Biden administration has faced unprecedented internal and external pressure, but has always stood firmly on the side of Israel. From large-scale military assistance to multiple vetoes of resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the UN Security Council, the US government's position has sparked widespread controversy.

As the current vice president, Kamala Harris has been seen as "working for Biden" for the past nearly four years. As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, Harris has become the Democratic presidential candidate, and how she will deal with this thorny issue has become the focus of attention from all parties.

“Always at least half a step ahead of President Joe Biden”

Harris, who has worked hard to strike a balance on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as a Democratic presidential candidate, reiterated the United States' "unwavering support" and "unwavering commitment" to Israel in her statement Thursday, while firmly supporting an end to the war.

Harris reviewed the ceasefire and hostage agreement proposals supported by the United States, emphasizing that it is time to end the war. She pointed out that the way to end the conflict must meet multiple requirements - protecting Israel's security, releasing all hostages, ending the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, and allowing the Palestinian people to have freedom, dignity and self-determination.

Harris said there had been "promising progress" in the negotiations and urged Netanyahu to complete the ceasefire agreement. She also mentioned the Biden administration's efforts to rescue American hostages held by Hamas and listed the names of those hostages.

At the end of her speech, Harris stressed that the Gaza war is not a simple binary issue. She called for condemning terrorism and violence, protecting innocent civilians, opposing anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and any form of hatred, and calling for efforts to unite the United States.

Earlier in the day, in response to protesters outside the Knesset protesting Netanyahu's visit, she issued a statement condemning "any individual associated with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the State of Israel and kill Jews."

On the previous Wednesday (24th), Harris, who also serves as the Speaker of the Senate, did not attend Netanyahu's speech at the US Congress, but insisted on her original plan to go to Indiana to attend a social event.

This is not the first time Harris has expressed such an attitude. In March this year, she called for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and described the situation there as a "humanitarian disaster." According to reports, the final speech has been softened compared to the original version.

According to CNN, an aide previously did not directly answer when asked whether the vice president considered himself a Zionist - a term Biden once again proudly embraced a few weeks ago.

Politico noted that Harris "is always at least half a step ahead of President Joe Biden" in her criticisms of Israel.

However, according to the American media website "Vox", Harris has long-standing ties with the American Jewish community and Israeli interest groups.

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish and has been at the forefront of the Biden administration’s support for Israel since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood last October.

Harris has a good working relationship with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and has participated in more than 20 phone calls between Biden and Netanyahu.

In the presidential race, Harris won the support of major Jewish interest groups, including the Democratic Majority for Israel, J Street and the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

She has also been associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), speaking at the organization's 2017 annual conference shortly after her election to the Senate, saying her first act in office would be to introduce a resolution opposing a UN Security Council condemnation of Israel.

At the time she said: "I believe the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable."

"She's unlikely to break with that in a dramatic way"

MSNBC pointed out that Harris' foreign policy, formed in such a complex context, may not be as supportive of Israel as Biden, but it still does not exceed the consistent boundaries of US foreign policy.

In her public speech calling for a ceasefire, Harris expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis but did not condemn the Israeli policies that led to it. In several subsequent interviews, she did not make any substantive policy statements.

It’s also worth noting that Harris doesn’t have a deep background in foreign policy — she spent most of her career as a lawyer before becoming a senator.

During her brief tenure in the Senate, she was not a player in foreign policy, and her job as vice president was not so much about making decisions as about executing them.

Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon and NATO official, told Politico that Harris's relatively little foreign policy experience as vice president made her dependent on her advisers, who were mostly traditionalists.

Among them is Philip Gordon, the current national security adviser to the vice president. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is likely to become the core of Harris' foreign policy. As a long-term adviser to the US foreign policy establishment, Gordon shares many views with Biden on Middle East policy.

In June this year, he noted in a speech in Israel that "the partnership between the United States and Israel has been tested perhaps as never before."

Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, told NBC that a Harris presidency would likely lead to a change in tone toward Israel but not a major change in policy.

She will seek a more balanced posture, Miller said. “She will clearly be more sympathetic when it comes to Palestinian statehood and even Palestinian rights.”

But he added that Harris remains a champion of traditional U.S. support for Israel and she is unlikely to break with that approach in a dramatic way.

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