Pressure Mounts on Kamala Harris to Urge Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire

Former aides to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign are collecting signatures for a letter urging the vice president to “seek an immediate cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas, and calling Israel’s Gaza campaign “genocide.”

The draft letter, which was obtained by Politico, encourages Harris to support a cease-fire resolution introduced by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo.,  as well as “independent investigations of human rights violations in Gaza.”

“We remain in grief, deeply affected by the impact of the brutal Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7th, and are grateful for your leadership in seeking the safe return of hostages,” the draft letter from Harris’ campaign alums begins. “That said, we greatly mourn the growing number of innocent Palestinians killed by indiscriminate Israeli attacks in acts of collective punishment over the last two weeks. As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza rapidly deteriorates, it is indisputably clear that this is not a campaign of Israeli national defense.”

Politico notes that the letter, “even in draft form, illustrates the degree to which the conflict in Gaza has become a political tinderbox, pitting traditional Democratic constituencies against facets of the party’s elected leadership.”

In a “60 Minutes” interview on CBS Sunday, Vice President Harris said she has spoken with President Isaac Herzog of Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks on his country and joins calls between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Politico said Harris has been largely supportive of Biden’s approach toward the Israel-Hamas conflict.

President Biden’s administration has been unequivocal in its support for Israel and its right to defend itself from Hamas’ terrorist attacks, The Washington Examiner reported.

In contrast, some progressive Democrats are calling for a cease-fire as thousands of casualties from the war mount in Gaza.

On “Meet The Press” on NBC Sunday, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-WA., warned that Biden’s steadfast support for Israel could hurt him with Democrat voters in 2024.

“He is, I think, you know, going to be challenged to explain an issue of this moral significance to people,” she said. “The American people are actually quite far away from where the president and even Congress, the majority of Congress, has been on Israel and Gaza.”

Even before the war, Democrat sympathies had shifted from the Israelis to the Palestinians, according to a Gallup poll taken in February 2023. It revealed that 49% of Democrats said they are more sympathetic toward the Palestinians, while 38% said they were more sympathetic toward the Israelis, the lowest support for Israel in the data, which show trends since 2001.

Meanwhile, 78% of Republicans surveyed said they were more sympathetic toward Israel, while only 11% said in February that they side with the Palestinians.

Younger Americans are more sympathetic toward the Palestinians, as evident in the marches taking place on college campuses and in cities across the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected all calls for a cease-fire, saying it would only benefit Hamas, the terrorist organization that runs the Gaza Strip, The New York Times reported.

“Just as the United States would not agree to a cease-fire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of Oct. 7,” Netanyahu said at a press conference Monday, adding that “calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism.”

Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza began this week with the aim of eliminating the terror group and retrieving the hostages seized from Israel when it was brutally attacked on Oct. 7.