Vice President Kamala Harris’ office is working behind the scenes to mend relationships with pro-Israel Democrats after not pushing back on a student who, in asking her a question, accused Israel of “ethnic genocide.”
On Thursday, Harris' senior staff contacted the influential Democratic Majority for Israel to clean up remarks she made Wednesday at George Mason University where Harris was visiting a classroom of students. "We were pleased Vice President Harris’s senior staff reached out to us today to confirm what we already knew: Her ‘commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering,’” said Mark Mellman, the president of the group.
A senior adviser to Harris also reached out to Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fl.) the co-chair of the Bipartisan Anti‐Semitism Taskforce, a source familiar with the outreach told POLITICO.
Deutch and his office did not respond to a request for comment. But the source said it was “fair to say that the group of House Democrats that super care about this noticed it and talked about it.” Harris’ office also called Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Thursday afternoon, the source said.
The incident involving Harris took place on Wednesday, when a student attending an event with the VP to promote voting, said that Israel was conducting an “ethnic genocide” in Palestine and felt that the U.S. was ignoring protests even though Harris had been discussing the power of demonstrating. Harris responded: “Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard.”
Israeli news outlets jumped on the comments. “VP Harris to student who accused Israel of 'genocide': Your truth must be heard,” went the headline in The Jerusalem Post. The Times of Israel also chimed in: “Kamala Harris doesn’t reject US student’s ‘ethnic genocide’ claim against Israel.”
Mellman quoted Harris’ senior staff as reassuring them that the vice president “strongly disagrees with the George Mason student’s characterization of Israel.”
Mellman also signaled that he wanted to move on from the dust-up, saying: “The Biden-Harris Administration, as well as President Biden and Vice President Harris personally, have exemplary pro-Israel records, for which we are immensely grateful.”
This is a developing story.
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October 01, 2021 at 04:01AM
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Harris' office does damage control over student’s Israel 'ethnic genocide' comment - POLITICO
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