On Monday, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) reportedly expressed his optimism that Vice President Harris will advocate for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel prior to the November election.
Bowman, an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in the war with Hamas, observed that Harris has already adopted a more assertive stance on the conflict than President Biden, at least in terms of rhetoric.
He stated that her subsequent action in her pursuit of the Oval Office as Biden’s successor should be to support a temporary cessation of U.S. weapons sales to Tel Aviv in order to safeguard Palestinian civilians.
For years, the Israel-Hamas conflict has been a source of division among Democrats, a conflict that has been further exacerbated by Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7 and Israel’s aggressive military response.
This week, the tensions have been evident in Chicago, where thousands of pro-Palestinian activists have convened to petition Biden, Harris, and Democrats on Capitol Hill to cease their support for Israel’s ongoing operations.
Bowman, who was defeated in his primary campaign this year due to his harsh criticisms of Israel, emphasized that he does not believe Harris will adopt such a stance in her keynote speech on Thursday, when she is expected to accept the Democratic presidential nomination.
However, he is optimistic that she will implement such a policy prior to November in order to convey to party leaders that they are attentive to the apprehensions of their pro-Palestinian base voters.
“If she’s going to say ‘arms embargo’ on Thursday it would break the internet. I don’t think she’s going to say that, personally. Maybe at some point she does, because I’m very concerned with how we look on a global scale. The entire international community, a majority of it, are opposed to what Israel is doing in Gaza. And we keep sending them tens of billions of dollars to continue to do it.” Bowman said.
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