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mermcoelho's avatar

After seeing incumbent Democratic Representatives successfully primaried due to calling out Israeli atrocities, I worry about the impact that a statement like that could have, even though it’s a moral stance. The zionists have a lot of money and power, as we’ve recently seen. I hope she will keep it vague until after she’s elected, then do the embargo.

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David Fisher's avatar

I think you misread the politics on almost every front. Harris isn't actually showing deference to Biden, she's using him as an excuse to avoid having to work out a complex new policy on the fly when she's busy trying to win an election. If Harris were to verbally throw Israel under the bus now, when she has no power to do anything, it could have a lot of impact. The one I'd be most worried about in her shoes is that it would provoke greater violence on all sides in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel as all sides tried to gain what ground they could under Biden's policies before facing Harris's policy changes. And given that the entire region is currently teetering on the brink of a wider war, this could lead to wider war. She's probably also worried the move might cost her more votes than it would gain in what is still a very close election, it may be cynical but she'd be a fool not to worry about that. On Biden's policy being a failure, he's had three goals: avoiding a wider war, getting more aid to Gaza, and negotiating a cease fire. He's achieved the first so far, had a mixed record on the second, and failed at the third. It's not great but it's not abject failure. I continue to think that Biden pursuing the vague pronouncements coming from protesters would have left more dead on both sides and I continue to have no idea how one could develop those vague pronouncements into a policy that didn't do that. Maybe Harris will find someone who is smarter than I am and manage it, but I think she's absolutely right not to make that her primary goal for the next 100 days.

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