Vice President Kamala Harris offered a full-throated defense of Israel in her convention speech Thursday night, echoing the language of President Joe Biden that has drawn criticism from pro-Palestinian protesters.
Harris, who spent a lengthy segment of her acceptance speech talking about the war in Gaza, also expressed sympathy for the innocent lives lost and called for a cease-fire deal.
The war was a source of tension at the convention. Crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the convention hall every night. Delegates inside the arena who were elected as "uncommitted" in protest votes against Biden's support of Israel had tried to haggle over a speaking slot but were denied. Several stood in silent protest at various points in the week.
"Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival," Harris said.
She continued: "At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking."
Harris said she and Biden are working to end the war in Gaza so that "Israel is secure" and the hostages are released and that "the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."
Her comments were notable as she faced pressure from some in the Democratic Party who wanted her to break with Biden in his support for Israel.
Wednesday night, the parents of one of the American hostages still being held by Hamas spoke about their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose arm was blown off by Hamas before he was loaded into a pickup truck and taken into Gaza.
"That was 320 days ago," said his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin. "Since then, we live on another planet. Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring."
Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had accepted a U.S. proposal to move the negotiations over a possible cease-fire forward. He warned, however, that it was "probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security."
Biden also addressed the conflict in his convention speech Monday night, saying his administration is trying to "prevent a wider war."
"We’re working around the clock — my secretary of state — to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now to end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a cease-fire and end this war."
He added, "Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides."
