New York – Vice President Kamala Harris pledged her support for Israel’s security and self-defense while calling for Palestinian security and self-determination in the acceptance speech for her party’s nomination for president on Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where questions over how she would address the war loomed throughout the event.
“With respect to the war in Gaza, President [Joe] Biden and I are working around the clock, because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done,” she said.
“Let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris said forcefully. “Because the people of Israel must never again face the war that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7,[(with] unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”
At the same time, she said, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating.
“So many innocent lives lost; desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety,” she said. “Over and over again, the scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
Harris said she and Biden are working to end this war so that “Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
Action is necessary
She said action is also necessary to defend US forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed forces.
In her speech, Harris laid down broad foreign policy principles and sharp contrasts with Republican rival Donald Trump, with just 11 weeks left in the race for the White House.
On the final night of the four-day Democratic National Convention, Harris, 59, promised to be a “realistic,” “practical” president for all Americans, as she battles Trump, 78, in a razor-close campaign.
“In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs,” she said, accusing Trump of bowing down to dictators. She promised to back NATO and Ukraine and “stand up to Putin’s aggression.”
It was a forceful speech for a candidate who, during her brief campaign, had yet to articulate much of her vision for the country. Harris has faced a stream of personal attacks from Trump, who called her weak on the foreign stage.
Harris said she would take whatever action was necessary to defend US interests against Iran and said tyrants and dictators including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, “are rooting for Trump.”
If successful, Harris stands to make history on November 5 as the first woman elected US president.
Harris emerged as the Democratic candidate little more than a month ago when allies of President Joe Biden, 81, forced him to quit the race.
She drew a series of contrasts with Trump, accusing him of not fighting for the middle class, planning to enact a tax hike through his tariff proposals, and having set in motion the end of a constitutional right to abortion with his picks for the US Supreme Court.
Harris noted the court’s recent ruling about presidential immunity and the risks that would pose if Trump gained power again.
“Just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails,” she said.
Trump, who had promised to respond to Harris’s speech in real time, posted a series of messages on Truth Social as she spoke about him, including: “She stands for Incompetence and Weakness – Our Country is being laughed at all over the World!” and “She will never be respected by the Tyrants of the World!”
Harris also said she will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans, contrasting that with Trump’s vow to cut the corporate tax rate.
She discussed her plans to fight for abortion rights, voting rights legislation, to boost the housing supply and ban what she has called “price gouging” by grocers. Her campaign has also proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.
Chicago’s United Center brimmed with energy – and people. The arena’s 23,500 seats were filled and arena staff briefly blocked more people from entering the facility, saying the city’s fire marshal declared the building to be at capacity.
“We did it,” Harris told supporters at a post-convention reception. “Forward, forward, forward.”