KAmala Harris still has time to change the course of US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that could protect her presidency, reduce further damage to Washington’s international standing, and stop what many—including many Jews, Israelis, and Holocaust scholars—have. called genocide in Gaza, and prevent regional war. At the risk of oversimplification, all he has to do is use US law, something that is mostly available to the former prosecutor.
Eleven months of financial, political, and military support for Israel’s war in Gaza and the West Bank, which resulted from the killing of Oct. 7, 2023 by Hamas of about 1,200 people, celebrated the deep policy and credibility pit of US Washington. has given Israel more than $14 billion in military aid since then, including 2,000-pound bombs, and thousands of Hellfire missiles. On August 20, the Biden Administration added an additional $20 billion to Israel, including 50 F-15 military jets, and much more.
So far, Israel has used US intelligence and weapons to free some of the 117 hostages. It also killed more than 40,000 Gazans, most of whom were women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, figures the US and UN consider reliable. Schools, hospitals, aid depots, foreign aid workers, and journalists have been targeted. And recent Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank have increased the destruction there. Israel has also launched airstrikes against Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, and Syria, increasing the risk of regional war. Just this week, in a move many see as proof that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants an endless war, Israel targeted Lebanon in a series of alarming beeper and walkie talkie attacks. All of this has forced governments in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, to back off from formal negotiations for fear of popular uprisings.
Regardless of one’s opinion of Israel’s actions and US support for the country, there have been far-reaching consequences. Domestically, a growing number of US officials have resigned in protest, including the State Department official in charge of arms sales to Israel. Hundreds more protested. Campus protests across the country, at least, have shown deep divisions within the Democratic Party. President Joe Biden is nicknamed “Genocide Joe” and his backlash against Zionism is known to have contributed to his inability to run for president because Arab and Muslim-majority states, such as Michigan, were unreachable. Both Biden himself and the US are facing murder charges. Terrorism concerns have also increased, according to the US intelligence community. And, predictably, hate crimes have also increased against Muslims, Arabs, and Jews. The fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy near Chicago by his landlord was one of the worst examples.
Meanwhile, the US’s feeble efforts to keep Netanyahu in control and negotiate a ceasefire have left him looking weak and ill-informed and, in many countries, on the wrong side of history. This is especially evident in international conferences. In the April 18, 2024 UN Security Council vote to accept the State of Palestine, the US alone voted no, on the grounds that it “believes in a two-state solution.” Most of the UN member states have recognized Palestine.
Read more: The West is Losing the Global South with Gaza
Blind US support for Israel also hurts other priorities. For example, refusing to hold Israel to international norms makes it difficult to use those same norms against Russia. The US’s support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution of the Russian leadership for atrocities in Ukraine is not at all compatible with its refusal to accept the Court’s authority when it comes to the possible arrest warrants for Israeli leaders regarding the atrocities in Gaza. This has drawn accusations of hypocrisy and emboldens countries the US opposes, such as Russia and China. China, first of all, in recent years has been involved in peace initiatives in the Middle East, which some analysts see as evidence of the end of US dominance in the region.
Kamala Harris is in this terrible mess. But there’s still time for him to do better, on a rising tide of Democratic enthusiasm for his candidacy. And he can do this without taking sides, without condemning Israel or supporting its behavior in Gaza. The solution is simple: All a candidate for Harris or a future President Harris has to do is apply existing US laws and policies to Israel instead of continuing to do something different.
Without speculating about her social justice views or her beliefs as a biracial American woman married to a Jewish American lawyer, it is clear that Harris is campaigning on her record as a prosecutor and lawyer. He has consistently presented himself and his principles as law and order for humanity and professionalism. Putting it bluntly that he wants to be optimistic about the future and ignore the past, including, presumably, Biden’s record on various issues. Taking a balanced approach to Israelis only requires adherence to these same principles and principles.
There has been extensive analysis of the many ways the US is breaking its laws in Israel. All Harris needs to do is stop this. For example, the Leahy Act, authored by former Senator Patrick Leahy, prohibits the State and Defense departments from funding or training foreign military units or individuals if there is credible information (not evidence) that they have committed serious human rights violations. There is ample evidence of violations by the Israeli military. The Biden Administration has even admitted that Israel may have used US-supplied weapons in violation of international law. This created a sense of “impunity” in Tel Aviv, according to former US officials. Senator Leahy himself has criticized the problem: “The law has not been applied consistently, and what we have seen in the West Bank and Gaza is a stark example of that.”
Similarly, various US laws prohibit the sale and transfer of some weapons to foreign governments for various national security and human rights reasons. The Arms Export Control Act requires countries that receive US military aid to use it only for legitimate defense and internal security. The International Assistance Act prohibits aid to any government that “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” The Genocide Convention Implementation Act includes US criminal sanctions against anyone who commits or incites genocide as defined by the International Genocide Convention, to which the US is a party and which formed the basis of the ICJ’s interim ruling that the claim that Israel was killing people in Gaza ” it made sense.” And the US War Crimes Act prohibits serious human rights and international law violations. Inspectors General at the Pentagon and the State Department are investigating whether the White House’s arms transfers to Israel violated these and other laws.
Yet the US continues to expedite arms transfers to Israel, violating its waiting periods, review requirements, and notification procedures in addition to its complete legal ban. This is the legal reason behind the increasing number of legal challenges in the US for supporting Israel. The US should apply these laws as they do in other countries. By contrast, on September 2, the UK suspended arms transfers to Israel due to human rights abuses. Germany has also stopped approving arms exports to Israel. A future President Harris can do this while helping Israel maintain a “standard military posture,” as required under US law since 2008. Upholding US law does not mean abandoning Israel.
International law offers another low chance for Harris. The number and scope of Israeli violations in Gaza and the West Bank are too numerous to list, although the ICJ tried in its July Advisory Opinion. Many American lawyers have analyzed this, as have Israeli experts. President Harris would have a number of options to bring US Israel policy into line with international law without much, if any, counter-policy. For example, if the US is committed to a two-state solution, and simply accepting the borders as determined by international legal decisions and UN Security Council resolutions is an easy start.
President Harris can do any of these without choosing a side. But as the collapse of his campaign’s decision to block a Palestinian American from speaking at the Democratic National Convention last month showed, he is at risk of losing key constituencies where Muslims and Arabs are angry and organized. Harris will be in a powerful electoral position if he makes his determination to apply US law and international law when it comes to Israel.
Outside of politics, the US has erred in its strong support for Israel, and the Harris Administration’s future performance in the world may depend on rebuilding US credibility. And both policy and politics aside, stopping the execution would define his legacy. It’s just the right thing to do.
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