'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.