On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” host Katy Tur said that it’s still difficult to tell whether 2024 Vice President Kamala Harris will be different from President Joe Biden on arming and giving leeway to Israel.
While speaking with Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Tur asked, “One other question for you, and this is about Kamala Harris and her foreign policy, do you see it as distinct from President Biden’s foreign policy, and how so?”
Crow responded, “Well, of course, it will be distinct. She’s a different person, a different leader, with different experiences, and we already saw that she is very clear, let’s talk about the Israel-Gaza thing, for example, that she made it very clear Israel has a right to defend itself, which I fully agree with, but the manner in which it does so is really important. It’s important to Americans, because all of our aid and support to any ally, anywhere, not just this particular issue, but anywhere, has to be in accordance with Americans’ interests. So, she’s already signaling that her own perspective and her own background will inform her approach to this. And I’m frankly very excited for America to see her leadership and for her to make the case over the next couple of months about how she’s going to usher in this new era of leadership.”
Tur followed up, “I have questions about what she’s going to focus on, what she’ll prioritize, but since Israel and Gaza is in the news right now and so top of mind, do you see her as treating Israel any differently than President Biden is treating the country right now?”
Crow answered, “Well, like I said, she said very clearly that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but the manner in which it does so is critical, it’s key, right? We have to center the protection of civilians. We have to center humanitarian issues. And I learned in three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan that, when you’re fighting terrorism, you can’t just do it militarily. You have to use diplomacy, you have to use humanitarian aid, and if you don’t center the protection of civilians in combat zones, you actually create a bigger problem than you’re solving, right? If you could do it just with military support, the United States would have been able to defeat the Taliban, would have been able to defeat al-Qaeda and ISIS after 20 years of war, spending trillions of dollars. But guess what? We didn’t do it, right? So, the lesson learned for America there is that you have to center the rights of all folks, and that’s why I continue to push for a two-state solution.”
Tur then stated, “Well, just as the President has been doing. I’ll save that question for another interview. I’d like to get a little bit more about whether there would be actual differences in maybe the way that we’re arming Israel or the amount of leeway we give the country going forward, I’m still kind of unclear on that.”
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