Harris Urged to Take 'Clear Stance' Against Weapons Sales for Israel

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris faced swift calls to support cutting off arms transfers to Israel after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race on Sunday, leaving her the heavy favorite to take his place at the top of the Democratic ticket in November.

Advocates who organized the movement that urged voters to mark "uncommitted" on their ballots to protest Biden's military and diplomatic support for Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip said Harris should publicly demand an end to weapons sales for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has repeatedly used American arms commit atrocities in the Palestinian enclave.

"For months, we've warned that Biden's support for Israel's assault on Gaza would hurt his electability," Layla Elabed, the leader of the Uncommitted National Movement, said in a statement Sunday. "Now, it's crucial for Vice President Harris to take a clear stance against weapons for Israel's war and occupation against Palestinians."

"Supplying weapons to Netanyahu's regime makes a mockery of Democrats' claims to fight against MAGA authoritarianism," Elabed added. "By funding a government committing human rights abuses, we undermine our party’s stance against far-right extremism and contradict our commitment to democracy and justice. It's time to align our actions with our values. Vice President Harris can start the process to earn back trust by turning the page from Biden's horrific policies in Gaza."

Harris has spoken forcefully against the Israeli government's attacks on civilians and obstruction of humanitarian aid in Gaza. In a March speech in Selma, Alabama, Harris said that "what we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating," pointing to "reports of families eating leaves or animal feed."

"Women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care," Harris said at the time. "And children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed."

The vice president called for a cease-fire of at least six weeks in that speech, which officials at the White House National Security Council reportedly watered down. The original draft of Harris' speech "was harsher on Israel about the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the need for more aid than were the remarks she ultimately delivered," NBC Newsreported, citing an unnamed U.S. official and former official.

"The Democratic nominee must immediately change course by calling for an arms embargo on the Israeli government and establishing a foreign policy centered in human rights."

The Biden administration has signed off on billions of dollars worth of weaponry for Israel since the Hamas-led October 7 attack. Earlier this month, the administration faced backlash for lifting a pause on a delivery of 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel's military.

Jewish Voice for Peace Action argued in a statement Monday that the "tireless work of the movement for Palestinian freedom that has organized from the streets to the ballot box to demand a cease-fire and an end to this genocide has played a key role in bringing us to this moment," referring to Biden's decision to exit the presidential race.

"For nine and a half months, President Biden has funded and armed the brutal Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, making the U.S. government directly complicit in the killing of at least 39,000 people, including over 15,000 children," the advocacy group said. "The Democratic nominee must immediately change course by calling for an arms embargo on the Israeli government and establishing a foreign policy centered in human rights."

Calls for the eventual Democratic nominee to break from the Biden administration's support for Israel's war on Gaza came as Netanyahu traveled to Washington, D.C. ahead of a scheduled address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday. Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden on Tuesday ahead of the address, which many Democratic lawmakers are planning to boycott.

Harris will reportedly be speaking at an event in Indianapolis instead of attending Netanyahu's speech.

Some expressed hope following Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 race that a Harris presidency would mark a significant improvement over the incumbent on Gaza.

"While by no means a champion of the cause, I've heard numerous people note that Vice President Harris exhibited a deeply different emotional reaction to the stories of Palestinian suffering than President Biden," Waleed Shahid, a Democratic strategist and co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, toldThe Intercept on Sunday.

"While the vice presidency is limited, many feel that she would be an improvement from Biden's severe lack of empathy for Palestinians and his ties to the AIPAC old guard in the party," Shahid added. "However, challenging AIPAC's power within the Democratic Party establishment remains a formidable task regardless of who the nominee is."

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American in Congress, notably did not join many of her progressive colleagues in endorsing Harris after Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday.

In a statement to The Detroit News, Tlaib expressed support for an open Democratic convention and said she was "eager" to talk with Harris about "an end to the funding of genocide in Gaza" and a cease-fire.