Vice President Kamala Harris chose to skip Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress on July 24, choosing instead to focus on giving a speech at a sorority conference.
Harris was in Indiana instead, giving a speech at Zeta Phi Beta sorority in Indianapolis. At the black college sorority she gave a rousing speech to the students as she spoke about a vision for the future of the nation.
As the new presumptive Democratic nominee her choosing to miss the speech by the Israeli minister came as a surprise to some but many also say that she is likely to toe the establishment line when it comes to foreign policy and follow in Biden’s footsteps. However, her missing the speech calls for some speculation that she may be more sympathetic to the Palestinians than her other presidential counterparts.
This could also help her get more support from younger voters.
Rep Pramila Jayapal (Washington) and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said that Harris “has a deep empathy for the situation of Palestinian Americans. It’s more natural to her.”
Meanwhile outside the Capitol, anti-Israel protests took place as Democrats hoped she would mend fences among Arabs and Muslim voters over the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.
Republicans are already calling her ‘petty’ for missing the speech. They are saying that her snubbing an important US ally is not at all a good idea.
”VPOTUS Harris’s snub of Netanyahu is petty and disrespectful,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on X.
According to a Harris ally, even though she has backed Biden’s tough stance backing Israel in the war with Hamas, she could take a softer approach as she has in the past referred to the war in Gaza as “devastating” and a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
“The vice president’s language from the beginning has been inclusive of both Israeli security and the plight of the Palestinians. That has been well-regarded by people on both sides of the Israel debate,” said a Harris ally.
Other progressive lawmakers who did not want to attend Netanyahu’s address include Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Jeff Merkley (Oregon). Senator Ben Cardin(Maryland) took Harris’s place in the chamber seat as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Harris is however scheduled to meet Netanyahu on Thursday, July 24.
College voters who very recently conducted protests across college campuses over what was happening in Palestine gave their feedback that they are optimistic about Harris but not sure if she will do more than Biden where the war in the West Bank is concerned.