Harris Says She Will Not Add Conditions To U.S. Weapons For Israel

Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday evening she would not approach the Israel-Hamas war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza significantly differently than President Joe Biden, who has, with one exception, refused to impose additional conditions on U.S. aid or weapon sales to Israel.

In her first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Harris whether she would do anything differently than Biden regarding Gaza, including by withholding weapons shipments, as pro-Palestinian advocates have been demanding.

“Let me be very clear, 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,” Harris began her reply, suggesting conditioning military aid was off the table.

Harris then reiterated a version of her remarks on the topic at the Democratic national convention in Chicago exactly a week earlier: that Israel must not again endure an attack of the kind Hamas perpetrated on Oct. 7, and that Palestinians have a right to “security and self-determination and dignity.”

Like Biden, Harris implied, gently, that Israel has not done enough to protect Palestinian civilians.

“As I said then, I say today, Israel had a right, has a right, to defend itself,” Harris said. “We would, and how it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, and we have got to get a deal done.”

When Bash followed up to ask again whether there would be a change in policy “in terms of arms and so forth,” Harris quickly said there would not be.

“No ― we have to get a deal done. We have to get a deal done. When you look at the significance of this to the families, to the people who are living in that region,” Harris said.