Within hours of Joe Biden announcing he would not seek reelection, the Democratic Partyā€™s power elite began consolidating their support for Vice President Kamala Harris to head the ticket to defeat Donald Trump. Among Harrisā€™s challenges if she secures the Democratic nomination will be to win back support from voters outraged at the Biden administrationā€™s facilitation of Israelā€™s genocidal war against the Palestinians of Gaza.

Harris set a tone for her posture on Israel as a senator when she co-sponsored legislation in 2017 condemning former President Barack Obamaā€™s decision to abstain from vetoing a UN Security Council Resolution critical of Israel. The resolution, which was adopted in December 2016, stated that ā€œthe establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.ā€

Harris and her senate colleagues charged that Obamaā€™s refusal to block the UN resolution was ā€œinconsistent with long-standing United States policy.ā€ They said U.S. policy should be aimed at preventing the UN from actions that ā€œfurther isolate Israel through economic or other boycotts or any other measuresā€ and urged future administrations ā€œto uphold the practice of vetoing all United Nations Security Council resolutions that recognize unilateral Palestinian actions including declaration of a Palestinian state or dictate terms and a timeline for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.ā€