New York Times: This is how Harris can change Biden’s policy towards Israel
Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, is facing a difficult situation, as she is being harassed and objected to by protesters at her election rallies, who are demanding an end to US support for Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, according to an article in the New York Times.
Harris, which has become the Democratic Party candidate to run for president in November against her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, finds herself facing a dilemma, as these activists want her to support stopping the supply of weapons to the occupying state.
Harris’ foreign policy adviser, Phil Gordon, ruled out that the Democratic Party candidate would resort to this option.
According to New York Times, any outright rejection of these demands by the Vice President would put her at risk of losing progressive votes in key states such as Michigan, and sparking a fierce confrontation at the Democratic Party convention today.
According to Peter Beinart, who’s a professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York, and also the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Currents magazine, has proposed a solution that he claims would allow Harris to go beyond simply calling for a ceasefire and say that too many civilians have died in Gaza.
He added that she could still signal a clear abandonment of President Joe Biden’s almost unconditional support for the Israeli war, but without declaring her support for an arms embargo on Israel.
The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade, the professor said, and prohibits the United States from assisting any foreign security force unit that commits gross violations of human rights.
The aid can be returned if the foreign country appropriately punishes the perpetrators.
“The law, named after former Senator Patrick Leahy, was passed by Congress in 1997 and has been applied hundreds of times to countries including US allies like Colombia and Mexico, but has never been applied to Israel, a country that has received US aid for the past eight decades,” Beinart pointed out.
He criticized the failure of US officials to apply the Leahy Law to the occupying state, citing a statement made by former State Department official Charles Blaha last May that there are already dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross human rights violations and should therefore be ineligible for American aid.
Beinart noted that Blaha oversaw the office responsible for implementing the Leahy Law from 2016 to 2023, while a State Department spokesman claimed in April that Israel doesn’t receive special treatment under the Leahy Law, Blaha said his own experience has proven otherwise, explaining that when it comes to every country except Israel, the decision is made by senior political officials at the State Department.
