Middle East policy: how do Harris and Trump compare

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00:00The Middle East is a hot topic in the U.S. election campaign.

00:07America is the main ally in support of Israel, the situation that's been in place since 1948

00:11and the establishment of Israel and the expulsion of the Palestinians from their land.

00:16The war that broke out on October 7 last year has seen over 41,000 Palestinians killed.

00:20This, of course, followed the death of 1,200 Israelis slaughtered in a cross-border raid

00:25by Hamas.

00:26But Europe-Americans are looking for a different tone from the presidential candidates.

00:30Ketamani Gorgiastani joins us, Ketamani Korsak, International Affairs Editor.

00:35Great to see you.

00:36Tell us about the U.S. response to what is happening.

00:40Well, the U.S., especially the Biden administration right now, is in a pretty difficult position

00:45when it comes to the Middle East and specifically to Israel.

00:50Their message is basically, we are doing everything we can to avoid escalation and we believe

00:55that diplomacy still has a place in order to achieve that sort of de-escalation.

01:01But at the same time, ever since the Beeper attacks from last week, the spokespeople from

01:08the White House, the National Security Council, as well as State Department and Pentagon have

01:13been pounded with questions by reporters about what they think about what Israel is currently

01:20doing.

01:22No comment on the Beepers or the walkie-talkie attacks besides saying that the U.S. had nothing

01:27to do with it.

01:29No comment really on the strike in Beirut on Friday.

01:34They said they didn't want to assess any of the operations of the Israelis and even refusing

01:41to answer the question as to whether they see some of these attacks or strikes as possibly

01:48leading to an escalation.

01:51And so you're seeing the Biden administration really faced with the situation where they

01:55are still the supporters of Israel, number one supporters, but they have failed to get

02:00that ceasefire in Gaza that they were hoping would calm things down when it comes to Hezbollah.

02:06And Israel is continuing to escalate.

02:09So it puts the U.S. in the situation.

02:11Are they unwilling to tell Israel to stop escalating or are they unable because Israel

02:17is not really listening to what the Americans have to say?

02:21On Thursday, the State Department spokesperson said, so far, we've been successful in keeping

02:26it from turning into an all-out regional war.

02:29This was, of course, back on Thursday.

02:32Things have really escalated since then.

02:34The U.S. has announced that they're sending more troops to the Middle East.

02:38No real details on that.

02:40They're telling people to leave Lebanon.

02:42So you're really seeing that even the Americans are slowly realizing that they might be saying

02:47they want to avoid escalation, but they're facing that escalation right now.

02:51Kerevan, bear with us.

02:52Let's take a further look at what the U.S. presidential candidates stand for.

02:59For whoever enters the White House after the U.S. presidential election, the Middle East

03:04will be high on the agenda when it comes to foreign policy.

03:09Beyond their campaigns, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump both have tracked

03:14records from their time served in office.

03:16Harris as the current vice president and Trump as former president.

03:21Harris is likely to maintain the Biden administration's stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

03:27While she has been more vocal in acknowledging the devastation caused by the war in Gaza

03:31and the suffering of Palestinians, she has also made clear that her stance on Israel's

03:36right to defend itself remains the same.

03:39As I have said repeatedly since October 7, Israel has a right to defend itself.

03:47And President Joe Biden and I are unwavering in our commitment to Israel's security.

03:54And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire.

04:04As well as an immediate ceasefire, Harris supports a two-state solution.

04:09Donald Trump, on the other hand, backed away from previous bipartisan consensus when he

04:14was president by saying he wasn't interested in a separate Palestinian state.

04:19Trump has repeatedly called Israel a cherished ally.

04:23While in office, he recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the U.S. embassy

04:28there from Tel Aviv.

04:29And now, he's said Israel will not survive unless he's in the White House.

04:34Israel will be faced not just with an attack, but with total annihilation, and I hate to

04:40say it so much.

04:42The Middle East and other foreign policy questions come far behind domestic issues when it comes

04:47to shaping most voters' choices.

04:49But the rest of the world is watching what the two candidates say very closely.

04:54While some experts suggest that the Israel-Palestine conflict might impact outcomes in key swing

05:00states.

05:01Kerem, this is a massive issue in the campaign.

05:04How is it playing out?

05:05Well, it is interesting because it's a massive issue in the campaign when it comes to the

05:09candidates.

05:10It's not necessarily top of mind for a majority of American voters because foreign policy

05:15is not usually top of mind.

05:17But it does put the two candidates in very different positions.

05:21For Donald Trump, he's not really trying to get Arab votes, Muslim votes.

05:26He's trying to get those Jewish American votes.

05:28And they have traditionally voted for the Democrats.

05:31So when you see him saying that under Kamala Harris, there's going to be total annihilation

05:36of the state of Israel, that's where he's going.

05:39He's accusing Kamala Harris of pandering to the supporters of Hamas.

05:44He's said that she hates Israel.

05:47He's also been pointing the finger at those Jewish Americans who vote for the Democrats,

05:52saying that they are fools, that if they vote for Democrats, they should have their heads

05:58examined.

05:59And even saying recently, in the past few days, that if he loses, it would be in large

06:05part because of those Jewish Americans who vote for the Democrats.

06:09For him, the question of the Middle East and especially Israel is a way to attack the Democrats.

06:15For Kamala Harris, it's a much more difficult position because, as I said, traditionally

06:20Jewish Americans tend to vote for the Democrats.

06:22So she wants to hold on to that group of voters.

06:26But at the same time, you're seeing a growing resentment from the Muslim American voters

06:33who have, especially under Joe Biden, expressed really their disgust at how he has handled

06:40the situation in Gaza.

06:42And that has transferred in large part to Kamala Harris, who is facing the same sort

06:48of mistrust by Muslim Americans and Arab Americans who are going to vote in this election.

06:54We remember when Joe Biden was still in the race, there was this group of uncommitted

06:59voters who raked up a lot of votes in the early stages of the primaries in some key

07:05swing states, because we're talking, of course, all the time about the swing states.

07:10And Muslim populations are pretty significant in those swing states.

07:14And right now, for example, if you take Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population of

07:19the seven battleground states, there's a growing rejection of Kamala Harris, who's

07:24actually in third place behind the Green Party candidate Jill Stein and even behind Donald

07:31Trump in those likely voters.

07:34And the situation is not much better in other battleground states.

07:38So for her, it's all about trying to get some of those Muslim voters back, some also younger

07:46Americans, more progressive Americans who are angry at what is going on in the Middle

07:49East while not losing the Jewish American vote at the same time, because, of course,

07:54it all comes down to those battleground states.

07:56And Michigan is one of those states.

07:58Ketavan Ghorjasdani, as always, thank you very much indeed.

08:01We continue, of course, to bring you all developments on the campaign trail from the U.S.

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