'No major surprises' as Harris follows Biden's lead on Gaza

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00:00Well, for some reaction from Israel, we can cross now to Jerusalem and speak to ABC News

00:04correspondent Jordana Miller.

00:06Jordana, that speech, of course, taking place in the middle of the night for Israelis.

00:10But has there been any reaction to what we heard from Kamala Harris?

00:13And just more generally, what do Israelis think of her?

00:16Well, first of all, there hasn't been any official reaction from any lawmakers or the

00:24prime minister.

00:25And people are, you know, listening back and reading into her speech.

00:32I would say that there were no major surprises in Kamala Harris's speech.

00:37What she said was largely consistent with what we've heard from President Joe Biden.

00:43And that is that the war needs to end, that they're working around the clock to that end,

00:50that there's been too much suffering in Gaza.

00:53And it's important that we pay attention to the language that Kamala Harris used, which

00:57is, again, the language Joe Biden's been using for four years.

01:02And that is that Palestinians deserve integrity and security and a kind of coexistence with

01:12Israel.

01:13She stopped short of calling for a Palestinian state.

01:17Of course, she didn't mention any arms embargo.

01:19And she reiterated the United States position, which is their ironclad commitment to Israel's

01:25security and the commitment to ensure Israel's, that it always has a kind of military edge

01:35here in the region, that it will always have what she called the ability to defend itself.

01:40So I don't think there were any major surprises here.

01:44Now, are Israelis nervous that Kamala Harris may take a tougher stance on Israel if she

01:51is elected?

01:53They are.

01:54They are nervous because she is, you know, they believe she may be more influenced by

02:01the far left parts of the party, though I think we've already seen Kamala Harris move

02:08more to the center on the issue of the Gaza war.

02:12Remember, for many, many months, it seemed that she played the kind of bad cop to President

02:17Joe Biden's good cop.

02:19He supported Israel.

02:21Kamala Harris would talk about the suffering in the Gaza Strip, the hunger, the desperation,

02:28the people that are constantly on the move there.

02:31And of course, the huge toll it's taken on the innocent lives that have been lost there.

02:37Right.

02:38The death toll recently surpassing 40,000.

02:42So I think, you know, Israelis, there was nothing that would alarm Israelis from her

02:47speech, but they worry about what might come if she becomes the next president of the United

02:53States.

02:54And meanwhile, U.S. mediators are involved in those efforts to secure a ceasefire deal

02:59in Gaza, those efforts ongoing in Cairo.

03:01Are mediators getting any closer?

03:04Well, that's a great question, and we don't really know the answer.

03:09We know that clearly President Biden's phone call with the Israeli prime minister had some

03:15impact because less than a day later, he sent the head of the Israeli Mossad, the spy agency,

03:23David Barnea and a high level delegation to Cairo, where he's meeting with U.S. officials.

03:32Brett McGurk, the special envoy of the president, is meeting there with Israeli and Egyptian

03:38officials, and they're focusing on how to, you know, hammer out a compromise that will

03:45satisfy Israel's security needs along the Gaza-Egyptian border.

03:50This is a key security interest for Israel.

03:53Right.

03:54The Israeli prime minister wants to keep some kind of Israeli military presence along that

03:59border and make sure that it no longer becomes the kind of gateway with all of the smuggling

04:06tunnels that the Israelis have discovered, a gateway for weapons and materials which

04:11would allow Hamas or other militant groups that might pop up to rebuild their asset,

04:18their military capabilities.

04:20So that is a key issue.

04:22And right now there's disputes between Israel and Egypt on how many troops will be there,

04:27where they will be, how many watchtowers will go up.

04:31Are sensors technology enough to secure that border?

04:35The U.S. offering all kinds of solutions.

04:38They want Israel and Egypt to agree to something, and it's very likely the allies will, right?

04:44They have a longstanding peace agreement.

04:47And then it'll come the challenge of Hamas, right?

04:51Everyone hoping and really with their eyes on later this weekend, hopefully Sunday or

04:57Monday, a larger summit led by CIA chief Bill Burns, a second opportunity to make some progress

05:04and build on the summit in Doha.

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