Harris Taps Ex-Mideast Negotiator as Liaison to Jewish Voters

(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris tapped a former Middle East peace negotiator to help with campaign outreach to Jewish voters, as she looks to keep up the pressure over Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas without alienating a key voting bloc.

Ilan Goldenberg will be the campaign’s liaison with Jewish community leaders and advise Harris on the US relationship with Israel and the Gaza war, according to a campaign adviser who asked not to be identified discussing a decision that hasn’t been formally announced.

Goldenberg was Harris’s special adviser on the Middle East at the time that Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and has been at her side during meetings with Israeli and Arab officials, the adviser said.

The move underscores how the Harris campaign has begun to confront thorny policy issues that have split Democratic voters and could leave her vulnerable to Republican attacks in the race against Donald Trump. In foreign policy, that’s the Gaza war. 

Trump Offers Netanyahu Warm Words After White House Friction

Progressives want Harris to take a tougher line against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the high civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip. But some Republicans have accused her of being too soft on Hamas which is labeled a terrorist group in the US. Trump has said — most recently in a Monday interview with Elon Musk — that Jews who vote for Harris should have their “head examined.”

Harris’s campaign said last week she doesn’t support halting the flow of weapons to Israel. At the same time, she’s occasionally used stronger rhetoric than President Joe Biden on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, suggesting she may shift her position toward Israel if elected president in November.

Goldenberg was born and spent his early years in Israel. Since the Oct. 7 attack, he’s participated in US planning for the “day after” in Gaza — an effort to determine the postwar structure in the area. US officials have been adamant that Hamas cannot maintain a political leadership role, and the Biden administration continues to advocate for a reformed Palestinian Authority to administer the enclave. 

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