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Like her boss, however, Harris has occasionally made slips of the tongue. In September 2022, while visiting the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea to reaffirm Washington’s support for Seoul, she mistakenly declared that the United States was “allied with North Korea,” a statement later corrected by aides.
If Harris becomes the Republican standard-bearer and is able to overcome Trump’s lead in pre-election polls and win the White House, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be high on her agenda, especially with the Gaza war still raging.
Although as vice president she has mostly echoed Biden’s stance and firmly supported Israel’s right to self-defense after the deadly cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, she has sometimes gone slightly ahead of the president and criticized Israel’s military practices.
In March, she was an outspoken critic of Israel, saying it was not doing enough to alleviate a “humanitarian catastrophe” as it launched a ground offensive against Palestinian enclaves. Later that month, she said she would not rule out “consequences” if Israel launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah, a refugee settlement in southern Gaza.
Analysts say such rhetoric makes it more likely that Harris, as president, will take at least a tougher line on Israel than Biden did.
While the 81-year-old boss has a long history with successive Israeli leaders, even calling himself a “Zionist,” Harris, 59, lacks a visceral, personal connection to the country.
She has closer ties with progressive Democrats, some of whom have urged Biden to attach conditions to U.S. arms deliveries to Israel out of concern about heavy Palestinian civilian casualties in the Gaza conflict.
But analysts do not expect a major shift in U.S. policy toward Israel, its closest ally in the Middle East.
Halie Soifer, who served as Harris’ national security adviser during then-Senator Harris’ first two years in Congress, from 2017 to 2018, said Harris’ support for Israel is just as strong as Biden’s. She said there is “really not the slightest gap” between the two.
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