Harris courts Jewish voters with pro-Israel stance

Vice President Kamala Harris courted Jewish voters on Friday in a campaign call ahead of Yom Kippur.

Speaking on a Jewish Voters for Harris-Walz livestream, Harris touted her record of support for Israel and accused her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, of trafficking in anti-Jewish tropes.

“As president, it is my pledge that I will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and I will always support Israel’s right to defend itself,” she said on the call. “My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering.”

“As we have seen a rise in antisemitism in our own country, Trump has espoused dangerous and hateful antisemitic tropes creating fear and division,” she added. “He praised some of the neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville as ‘very fine people.’ He reportedly said Hitler did some ‘good things’.”

Harris said that she preferred a diplomatic solution to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but added that “all options are on the table,” an allusion to the potential use of military force.

The Biden administration continues to pursue a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas to end the war in Gaza, Harris added.

“It is time to bring the conflict to an end, and I am working to ensure it ends, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom and self-determination,” she said. 

“I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including, of course, the seven American citizens, living and deceased, who are still held,” Harris said.

Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish, said on the call that as president, Harris would be a supporter of the US Jewish community.

Jewish voters could play a deciding factor in key swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, where they make up 3.3% and 1.2% of the population, respectively, per the 2023 American Jewish Year Book.

Polls show inconsistent results about whether Jews, who traditionally vote overwhelmingly Democratic, are shifting towards Trump and the Republican Party.

In a poll that the Jewish Democratic Council of America released Wednesday of key battleground states, 71% of Jewish voters said that they would support Harris and just 26% said they would support Trump. Those figures would be largely consistent with election results in recent decades.

A Siena College poll in September of likely voters in New York, however, showed Trump with a 54% to 44% lead over Harris among Jewish respondents. Jews made up 8% of that poll’s 1,003-person sample.