Washington — Before Iran’s missile attack on Israel in early October to avenge the killing of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian officials, Vice President Kamala Harris already had to navigate a divide in the Democratic Party over the U.S. support for Israel. The conflict between Israel and Iran may not have the same impact on the presidential election as domestic issues like inflation and reproductive rights, but the next president will have to manage a delicate situation in the region as the threat of an all-out war escalates.
Republicans have pressured the Biden administration to send more security assistance to Israel and to threaten Tehran and its proxies with military ramifications. President Biden said last week he does not support a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear sites by Israel.
Former President Donald Trump blames the growing conflict on what he says is the weak leadership of Mr. Biden and Harris. Mr. Biden’s answer to the nuclear site question, Trump said, should have been “hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later.”
Here are the positions Harris and Trump have taken on Israel and Iran.
Israel-Gaza war
Harris has touted the Biden administration’s efforts to broker a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as the Gaza war hits the 1-year mark. She has repeatedly said Israel has the right to defend itself but has also acknowledged the suffering of Palestinians.
“We must chart a course for a two-state solution. And in that solution, there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and in equal measure for the Palestinians,” she said at the September presidential debate. “But the one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve.”
Harris has not laid out a plan for a two-state solution.
Earlier this year she called on the Israeli government to do more to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Harris’ national security adviser said in August that the Democratic nominee does not support an arms embargo on Israel. Harris said in September she supported Mr. Biden’s decision in May to withhold a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel amid concerns that they’d be used in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians were sheltering after fleeing their homes.
In an interview that aired Monday on “60 Minutes,” Harris was asked whether the U.S. can consider Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a close ally, in the face of his resistance to a cease-fire and his bombing of Lebanon to target Hezbollah, though the U.S. has cautioned Israel against igniting a wider war with its northern neighbor.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes,” Harris said.
Trump has claimed that the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas would have never happened if he were president. But the former president, who has portrayed himself as a staunch defender of Israel, has criticized the Israeli government’s handling of the war. In November, he said “Israel has to do a better job of public relations, frankly, because the other side is beating them at the public relations front.” He also called on Israel to “get it over with.”
Trump was asked during the June presidential debate whether he would support an independent Palestinian state, to which he responded, “I’d have to see.”
As president, Trump controversially moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and ended decades of U.S. opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. (The Biden administration reversed the settlement decision.)
Iran
In the “60 Minutes” interview, Harris was asked which country she considers to be the greatest adversary of the U.S.
“I think there’s an obvious one in mind, which is Iran,” she said. “Iran has American blood on their hands.”
She added that it’s one of her “highest priorities” to ensure that Iran “never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power.” Harris did not answer whether the U.S. would take military action if there was proof Iran was building a nuclear weapon.
It’s unclear whether Harris would seek to cut a new nuclear deal with Iran if she wins the election. During the 2020 campaign, Harris, who was running in a crowded Democratic presidential primary, said she would seek to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, “so long as Iran also returned to verifiable compliance.”
Trump has been highly critical of the Obama-era deal, formerly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and removed the U.S. from the international agreement in 2018. He called the 2015 agreement “disastrous” and “a great embarrassment.”
After Iran’s missile attack on Israel last week, Harris called Iran a “destabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East” and said she supported Mr. Biden’s order for the U.S. military to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel.
“Iran is not only a threat to Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the ends of Iran-backed and based terrorist proxies,” she said. “We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists and we’ll continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.”
Trump shared a similar sentiment, accusing Iran of “exporting terror all over the world.” But he also blamed the Biden administration’s leadership for the missile barrage, again making the argument that it would not have happened if he were in the White House.
He has also suggested that Iran may be connected to the two assassination attempts against him. He said the U.S. should threaten to blow the country to “smithereens” if it attacked a presidential candidate.
There is so far no indication from the FBI or Secret Service that Iran was involved in the assassination attempts. However, Iran does appear to be a threat to Trump’s safety. A Pakistani national with alleged ties to Iran was arrested in August and charged with plotting to assassinate current and former government officials across the political spectrum, including Trump, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.
Iran is also accused of trying to interfere in the presidential election. The Justice Department recently charged three Iranian hackers with allegedly targeting members of Trump’s campaign.
