Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Vice President Harris' team has expressed a strong desire to consider a “new direction” on U.S. policy toward Israel and ending the war with Hamas.
“I called her [Harris] “This is to help enforce the laws of the United States. That's what the Leahy Act and the Security Act require, and we can't have unconditional aid. This is unprecedented,” Kana told NBC News' “Meet the Press,” referring to former President Reagan's suspension of aid to Israel. 1982 Israeli invasion Lebanese.
“So we need to put pressure on both sides to end this war, and I'm pleased that the vice president is open to a new direction,” he added.
Kanna is The Washington Post Harris “will likely conduct a thorough analysis of U.S.-Israeli policy to determine what's working and what's not,” The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing people with knowledge of her thinking. The paper reported that Harris could be more open to “imposing conditions on aid to Israel,” something Biden has not done during the months-long war.
Asked if Harris had been forthright about putting conditions on the direct aid to Khanna, he said, “No. I'll leave that to the vice president to clarify.”
“But she and her team are open to a new direction. No matter who looks at this policy, there are still hostages who have not been released. The war has been going on for nearly 11 months. More than 40,000 people are dead in Gaza. A new policy direction is needed to end the war,” he said.
Kana has repeatedly voiced his opposition to further aid to Israel, citing the rising civilian death toll in Gaza since the war began in early October. When he voted against an Israeli aid bill in April, he said he did so because he opposed a “blank cheque” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Harris has walked a fine line in discussing her views on the Israeli-Hamas war and continued support for Israel. Since replacing Biden as the leading Democratic presidential candidate, she has faced calls from pro-Palestinian protesters for a more direct condemnation of Israel's wartime operations and a more nuanced perspective than Biden has offered.
In a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Harris vowed that the United States would always defend Israel and help it defend itself, saying Israel “must never again face the horror” of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left more than 1,100 people dead and 250 kidnapped, but she also expressed concern about the death toll in Gaza.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months has been devastating,” she said to applause. “The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are free, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, and freedom of self-determination.”
Some outside observers have suggested her public comments may mark a shift, at least in emphasis, from Biden's past comments on the issue.
