Harris says she will ‘always give Israel the ability to defend itself’
Israel’s war on Gaza was among the many issues discussed in the US presidential debate between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
Harris, the US’s vice president, repeated the same line she has espoused in previous public appearances. She focused on the stalled US-led effort to reach a ceasefire but avoided committing to using any leverage to prevent Israel from carrying out more abuses in Gaza.
“Israel has a right to defend itself… and how it does so matters, because it is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed – children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end,” she said.
“I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular, as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel.”
Trump claims Israel ‘won’t exist within two years from now’ if Harris becomes president
In comments made during the first presidential debate between the pair, the Republican nominee said, “I hope I’m wrong on that one”, but claimed he has been “pretty good at predictions”.
Trump also said Harris “hates Israel” – to which the Democratic nominee responded, “That’s absolutely not true”, adding that she is a lifelong supporter of the Jewish state.
Trump also accused Harris of refusing to attend a speech given by Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress on July 24 to attend a “sorority party of hers”. He also repeated his assertion that the war in Gaza “would’ve never happened” if he was president.
“Iran was broke under Donald Trump,” Trump said. “Iran had no money for Hamas, or Hezbollah or any of the 28 different spheres of terror.”
Harris-Trump debate a ‘big disappointment’ for Palestinians
The high-stakes presidential debate between US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has been a “big disappointment’ for Palestinians hoping for a change of gear in foreign policy matters, Tamer Qarmout, analyst at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, has told Al Jazeera.
“Both Kamala [Harris] and Trump do not talk about the big vision,” Qarmout, who is a Palestinian from Gaza, said. “The best Kamala could come up with was a ceasefire. What about ending the conflict? What about making peace?”
The analyst said the common thread between the two candidates was their “lack of vision” on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“She [Harris] could have given new energy to this peace process and revived it from the dead, but she did not,” Qarmout said.
Unlikely either Harris or Trump will use leverage to pressure Israel
Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, says it is not clear whether either US presidential candidate is willing to use “political capital” to change the situation on the ground in Gaza if elected.
“At this point, [Kamala] Harris and [Donald] Trump are both pro-Israel candidates who have not said that they would use leverage or pressure to change Israeli actions,” Zonszein told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
As for whom Netanyahu would like to see as the next US president, Zonszein said many people believe the prime minister favours Trump.
“What everybody understands is that Netanyahu is a Republican, … that he likes Trump. [When he was president,] he gave him [Netanyahu] a lot of what he wanted in terms of settlements, annexation and recognising basically Israel’s acquisition of land through force,” she added.
However, she said the “reliance” Netanyahu places on Trump giving him everything he wants may be a “little off base”.
