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 week.
Harris is the only speaker who addressed Israel or Gaza from the convention stage on Thursday.
‘Now is the time to get a hostage deal’
“With respect to the war in Gaza, President 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.
The crowd rose to its feet when she mentioned Israel.
“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,” she said forcefully. “Because the people of Israel must never again face the war that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”
At the same time, she went on, 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 President 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.”
She said action is necessary to defend US forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed forces.