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Kamala Harris tried Friday to navigate the thorny politics of the Middle East during a campaign stop in Michigan.
Harris said the killing this week by Israeli forces of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar creates a chance to finally end the war in Gaza.
“Listen, I know this year has been very difficult given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” the vice president said at a rally in suburban Detroit. “It is devastating, and now Sinwar’s death can and must be a turning point. Everyone must seize this opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, and end the suffering once and for all.”
Her remarks echoed ones she made a day earlier but it’s where she made them that was notable: Arab American voters are an important constituency in Michigan. The community has been in deep anguish since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The vice president has sought to strike a balance between U.S. support for Israel, and efforts to recover hostages seized by Hamas, and rising global anger over the number of civilians killed in the war and the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed.
“I continue to believe diplomacy is the answer to bringing lasting stability across the Israel-Lebanon border and as vice president — and with your help as president — I will do everything in my power to achieve these goals,” she said.
Harris met with Arab American leaders in Michigan earlier this month to discuss her efforts to end the war and to express concern over the scale of suffering. Prominent Arab American groups, meanwhile, have urged her to take a more forceful approach to the Israeli government than President Joe Biden.
