Harris strikes a strong tone against Israel in a foray into Middle East diplomacy
Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to the Middle East this weekend was both a major step in wartime diplomacy and an effort to demonstrate the administration is taking a tougher stance toward Israel regarding the civilian toll of the war against Hamas .
The message was addressed to the region’s leaders as Israel begins a new phase in the eight-week war that has killed thousands of civilians. But the vice president also spoke to disaffected voters in the United States, especially the young voters and people of color who helped propel President Biden to the White House in 2020.
Over the course of just three hours at the U.N. climate summit in Dubai, Ms. Harris juggled four major meetings or phone calls with kings and presidents. Her message on the war, both privately and publicly, was one of the sharpest statements from any American official — including Mr. Biden — who set guidelines for how Israel should conduct its war and what the country should do when the fighting is over.
“Under no circumstances,” her office wrote in describing her remarks during a personal meeting with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, “will the United States support the forcible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the siege of Gaza, or redrawing Gaza’s borders.”
Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, said Monday that “there is no daylight” between the vice president and Mr. Biden, both of whom have expressed support for Israel and talked about the need to protect civilians in Gaza. White House officials said Mr. Biden himself has been blunt with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in many private conversations.
But this weekend, Ms. Harris was the messenger par excellence to deliver that admonition in a very public way.
Her comments echoed Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who said in Israel last week that it is imperative that Israel has a “clear plan in place that places a high priority on protecting civilians.” And Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III warned in a speech Saturday that if Israel drives civilians into the arms of terrorists, it risks “replacing a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
For the vice president, the trip was a chance to seize the international spotlight in a way that hasn’t happened despite several foreign trips in the past year. Mr. Biden is proud of a half-century of global engagement, but Ms. Harris has also begun building her own history of relationships with leaders in the region.
She has met with President Isaac Herzog of Israel three times. She has had three meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan, including one at her residence in Washington. And she first met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates in May 2022, when she led the delegation to his predecessor’s funeral.
In her weekend discussions with all three, the vice president was deliberately strong in her language, according to senior administration officials familiar with the preparations as Ms. Harris and her aides rushed to prepare for the visit late last week.
One official said her comments were aimed at addressing the Arab world’s appetite for a set of principles that would guide how the war is conducted and how the region should deal with its aftermath.
Her message about avoiding any future displacement of Palestinians was aimed primarily at Egypt’s Mr el-Sisi, who has said he would not accept a wave of refugees from Gaza. Her message about Gaza’s borders was a direct response to Arab leaders’ concerns about comments made by some Israeli leaders about creating a safe buffer zone within Gaza after the war ended.
The official said the messages were also addressed to Israeli leaders.
Ms. Harris did not stop in Jerusalem on her way home from Dubai on Sunday, but called Mr. Herzog from Air Force Two.
“I spoke with members of America’s Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, including those who have lost loved ones in Gaza and American citizens who have been injured and evacuated from Gaza,” Ms. Harris said in remarks to reporters after meeting with the Arab leaders in Dubai. “It’s really heartbreaking. As Israel pursues its military objectives in Gaza, we believe Israel must do more to protect innocent civilians.”
Several administration officials said the vice president is also aware of the public back home in the United States.
Some Democrats have said they will not vote for Mr. Biden next year, saying he has not held Israel’s feet to the fire when it comes to protecting civilians in Gaza. Aides to the vice president say her harsh comments were partly intended to reassure Americans who hold similar views.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said Israeli strikes have killed more than 15,500 people since October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. The attack killed about 1,200 people, Israeli officials said.
In recent weeks, Ms. Harris has traveled to college campuses across the country as polls show Mr. Biden’s support among younger voters is waning. She has spoken about abortion rights, student loans, the economy and, most recently, the war between Israel and Hamas.
At an event at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, 10 days after the Oct. 7 massacre, Ms. Harris noted that “it is important to also recognize the distinction between a terrorist organization Hamas and the Palestinian people and civilians, and it must not be joined together.”
In the nearly two months since, her language has become blunter, a reflection of the thousands of civilians killed in Gaza and the duration of the fighting, which resumed Friday after a week-long pause in hostilities to extract hostages and prisoners. exchanges held by Hamas. Israel.
White House officials said Ms. Harris was in Dubai mainly as the country’s envoy to the U.N. climate summit, known as COP28. But her focus during her one day at the conference was on the war in the Middle East.
She delivered official remarks to the United States on climate, which, like other leaders’ remarks, were limited to about four minutes. And she missed almost the entire other climate event she was supposed to attend.
At that event, the moderator of the renewable energy panel appeared confused when Ms. Harris was not in the room to be introduced. After a few awkward moments, the moderator said she would save a seat for the vice president in case she arrived.
Mrs. Harris was not far away, in another part of the vast exhibition center. She was on the phone with the Emir of Qatar. (Many Hamas political leaders live in Qatar, which has long acted as a middleman for countries that refuse to deal directly with Hamas.)
The vice president arrived just as the last of the other panelists spoke. After delivering her brief climate remarks, Ms. Harris hurried offstage for her meetings with the King of Jordan and the President of the United Arab Emirates — just as the moderator asked the panelists to gather for an official photo .
Not yet out of the room, Ms. Harris ran back to the stage, smiled broadly at the camera and then ran out of the room.
Moments later she shook hands with Sheikh Mohamed, the leader of the Emirates.