Kamala Harris is a proven friend of Israel

There were a few things missing from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress on Wednesday. Such as the fact that, despite the overwhelming opposition of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, he spent the first nine month of his present term in office trying to scuttle his country’s independent judiciary. Such as the fact that his government depends on the support of far-right racist politicians in the mold of Mussolini’s fascisti. Such as the fact that he has repeatedly moved the goal posts in negotiations to free the remaining hostages taken captive by Hamas on October 7. Such as the fact that he obstinately and defiantly refuses to even acknowledge, let alone accept, any responsibility whatsoever for the security failures and blatantly political decisions that allowed the October 7 pogrom to happen.

In an article published in Newsweek earlier this week, in which I explained why I enthusiastically support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election, I pointed out that there are two Americas: an America of tolerance, inclusivity, and promise, which is the America of Kamala Harris, and an America of divisiveness and the perpetuation of petulant grievances, of white supremacism, misogyny, and antisemitic and racist dog whistles designed to denigrate Jews, Black Americans, and members of other minorities, which is the America of former president Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance (R.—OH).

Along the same lines, there are also two Israels. There is the Israel reflected in its Declaration of Independence, in which Jewish identity is on an equal footing with equal rights for all of the country’s inhabitants. This is not only the Israel of David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres, of Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, but it is also the Israel of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, hardly a leftist, and of ex-Likudniks such as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former ministers Tzipi Livni, Limor Livnat and Dan Meridor.

And then there is the other Israel, the Israel of Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right acolytes such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (who has endorsed former President Donald Trump), Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Treasury Minister Bezalel Smotrich, all of whom are intent on implementing their hegemonistic and anti-democratic agendas at all costs. It is against this dark vision of a messianic, autocratic, anti-democratic Israel that hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrate regularly in the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and elsewhere.

One of the reasons why President Bill Clinton had a largely positive and constructive relationship with his Israeli counterparts was that for most of his presidency, Rabin, Peres, and Ehud Barak were the Israeli prime ministers. Clinton only had to deal with Netanyahu during the latter’s first term as prime minster – June 1996 to July 1999 – during which Netanyahu presented himself as far less of the ideological hardliner he has proven himself to be following his return to power in 2009.

This is relevant here because Rabin, Peres, and Barak all were intent on at least trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on equitable terms. This enabled Clinton to host Rabin, Peres, and Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, one of the earliest steps in what has been an elusive peace process.

In contrast, Netanyahu served as prime minister during virtually the entire time – all but two months – that President Barack Obama was in the White House, resulting in the frustrating realization in Washington that Netanyahu was as much an obstacle to easing – let alone trying to resolve – the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum as the Palestinian leaders – Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas – who had rejected a number of far-reaching offers from pre-Netanyahu governments. Small wonder that Obama had a pricklier time of it than Clinton.

I urge us all to keep this bit of history in the back of our minds in assessing Kamala Harris in the context of the US-Israel relationship. As it happens, her views are totally in line with the pro-Israel positions and attitudes of the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations.

She has made no secret over the years of her strong commitment to Israel’s security and has been outspoken in her condemnation of Hamas and its murderous terrorism. In this connection, her statement in reaction to what she called “despicable acts by unpatriotic protestors and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” at pro-Hamas demonstrations in Washington, DC bears quoting:

“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews,” she declared unambiguously. “Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation. . . . I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation.”

As I pointed out in my Newsweek article, Harris has been 100 percent on the same page as President Biden in supporting Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 pogrom. At the Munich Security Conference in February of this year, she said that “we are working to end the conflict that Hamas triggered on October 7th as soon as possible and ensure it ends in a way where Israel is secure, hostages are released, the humanitarian crisis is resolved, Hamas does not control Gaza, and Palestinians can enjoy their right to security, dignity, freedom, and self-determination.” 

She has also been a stalwart advocate on behalf of the hostages and their families and has both highlighted and validated the rape and sexual abuse suffered by Israeli women at the hands of Hamas on October 7, and subsequently, in their Gaza captivity.

At the same time, as is reflected in her above-quoted statement at the Munich Security Conference, Harris has not shied away from expressing empathy and compassion for Palestinian civilians killed, wounded and displaced in the Gaza war. This puts her in the position of becoming a legitimate facilitator for the eventual resumption of a long-term Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Kamala Harris is a proven friend and ally of both Israel and the Jewish community just as Clinton and Obama were and Biden continues to be. Vitriol to the contrary from her Republican opponents need to be taken for what it is – self-serving political rhetoric rather than anything resembling fact.

As a Jew and as a Zionist, I endorse Kamala Harris without hesitation because I am confident of her support of and commitment to Israel. But from a broader foreign policy perspective, I also do so as an American because those of us who back her candidacy for president want the United States to remain the most powerful single force on behalf of international democracy rather than be dragged into an era of jingoistic isolationism on the global scene.

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Menachem Z. Rosensaft is Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. He is the author of the forthcoming Burning Psalms: Confronting Adonai after Auschwitz (Ben Yehuda Press, 2025).