Harris’ Jewish Spouse Is Not Reassuring

by Farley Weiss, Chairman

8/12/2024, 7:56:59 PM

As the election campaign heats up and two polls show former President Donald Trump winning around half the Jewish vote, it is clear that Jewish voters are concerned about the potential policies of a Harris presidency towards Israel. Harris’s apologists point to the fact that Harris has a Jewish spouse, who publicly says that Harris will be a friend of Israel. However, the recent election of Keir Starmer as British prime minister shows that his Jewish spouse has not prevented a significant change for the worse in U.K.-Israel relations.

Starmer’s Jewish wife, Victoria, is much more religiously observant than Harris’s spouse Doug Emhoff (whose law firm was recently disclosed to have profited significantly from its representation of the PLO). Keir and Victoria are raising their two Jewish children in the Jewish faith and have Shabbat dinner every Friday at 6 pm during which Starmer spends family time and attempts not to conduct any work.

Starmer made numerous salutary efforts to get rid of open antisemites in the British Labour Party like former leader Jeremy Corbyn. He initially supported Israel after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. His efforts were rewarded with a landslide victory. However, shortly after becoming prime minister, Starmer dropped British objections to the potential International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israel strongly condemned Starmer’s decision. The Biden administration has called the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek the warrants outrageous and made clear that would not comply with them if issued. Nonetheless, Starmer’s government made clear that it would enforce the potential warrants.

Starmer’s government also discussed imposing an immediate arms embargo on Israel, despite Israel facing a multi-front war. After significant public criticism, Starmer delayed the decision.

Harris has shown tendencies similar to Starmer’s. She was quoted by heads of the anti-Israel so-called Uncommitted National Movement as saying that she was “open” to discussing an arms embargo on Israel. After this news was made public, Harris’s National Security Advisor Phil Gordon released a statement saying, “Vice President Harris has been clear: She will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel.”

In reality, however, a partial arms embargo on Israel is the current policy of the Biden-Harris administration and there is no evidence that Harris opposes it. Recently, 48 Republican senators sent a letter to President Joe Biden objecting to this partial embargo. They noted that the embargo has been enforced despite bipartisan approval of providing the weapons in question to Israel, especially during time of war.

The letter states: “We write once again to protest your administration’s partial arms embargo against Israel. The actions of the Biden-Harris administration run counter to our long history of robust military cooperation with Israel and cast doubt upon the reliability of the United States as a long-term security partner. Your actions also violate the will of Congress as expressed in the recent supplemental that funded emergency military support to Israel.”

“When Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly raised the weapons hold in June, your administration adamantly denied the accusation,” the letter continued. “All the while, you were deliberately delaying the delivery of weapons, ammunition, and equipment to Israel. These include 120 mm tank ammunition, 120 mm mortar ammunition, light tactical vehicles, air-to-air missiles, F-15s, F-35 engines, joint direct attack munition kits, 2,000-pound bombs, rifles and guided missile systems.”

The letter referenced 10 weapons and equipment sales and shipments that have allegedly been delayed, and points to four instances in which the administration “ignored congressional inquiries.”

The question is: Where does Harris stand on this partial arms embargo? Would she add more weapons systems to the embargo? Does her national security advisor’s statement mean that she would stop supplying Israel with any offensive weapons and only provide defensive weapons like parts for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow defensive systems?

Iran is committed to the destruction of the one Jewish state and its 7 million Jewish inhabitants. Trump’s policy of massive sanctions on Iran reduced the Islamic Republic’s reserves to under $10 billion. The Biden administration alleviated many of these sanctions and Iran’s reserves rose to around $100 billion. It is not surprising that Iran’s increased wealth enabled it to provide more support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Such support was likely instrumental in leading to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and the Hezbollah attacks that followed.

Antisemitism is on the rise in America, with massive anti-Israel and Jew-hating demonstrations. What policy changes will Harris make to stop this? Harris has made clear that she empathizes with the demonstrators and opposes the deportation of foreign students involved in them. Antisemitism would likely escalate under a Harris administration, as there is no indication that she would change any of the policies that have enabled it.

Jewish voters should demand policy changes from the Harris campaign on these critical issues, which impact the security of Israel and Jewish life in America. Harris’s failures on these issues are hurting her politically with the Jewish vote. Simply saying she has a Jewish spouse is not sufficient.