The Shift: Biden, Harris rally around Israel after Lebanon attacks

U.S. officials have expressed concerns about a widening war in the Middle East, but these anxieties didn’t stop members of the Biden administration from rallying around Israel after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated.

“Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror,” read President Biden’s statement. His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”

“The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups,” it continued. “Just yesterday, I directed my Secretary of Defense to further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war.”

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris put out a similar statement.

“Hassan Nasrallah was a terrorist with American blood on his hands. Across decades, his leadership of Hezbollah destabilized the Middle East and led to the killing of countless innocent people in Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and around the world. Today, Hezbollah’s victims have a measure of justice,” said the Vice-President.

“I have an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel. I will always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” she continued.

IMEU’s Margaret Zaknoen DeReus on Twitter: “Like Biden, not a word from the VP, the candidate of joy and freedom, about the 1,000+ Lebanese men, women and children Israel obliterated. Not a word about hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced, entire city blocks destroyed. We don’t exist as human beings to this administration.”

According to reporting from Erin Banco and Nahal Toosi at Politico, Senior Biden officials privately told Israel that the U.S. would support the attacks on Lebanon.

From Politico:

Presidential adviser Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East, told top Israeli officials in recent weeks that the U.S. agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah in order to convince the group to engage in diplomatic talks to end the conflict, the officials told POLITICO.

Not everyone in the administration was on board with Israel’s shift, despite support inside the White House, the officials said. The decision to focus on Hezbollah sparked division within the U.S. government, drawing opposition from people inside the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence community who believed Israel’s move against the Iran-backed militia could drag American forces into yet another Middle East conflict.

Drop Site News’s Jeremy Scahill on Twitter: “If you’re an American neocon watching Biden & Harris facilitating Israel’s wars—which the neocons have wanted forever—then Harris is a solid candidate to support. Let’s stop with this ‘neocons just support Harris because they want to save democracy’ from Trump nonsense.”

GOP nominee Donald Trump didn’t immediately release a statement on the killing, but in a lengthy tweet, his son-in-law and former White House advisor Jared Kushner rejected calls for a ceasefire and said Israel must be allowed to “finish the job” in Lebanon.

“Anyone who has been calling for a ceasefire in the north is wrong. There is no going back for Israel. They cannot afford now to not finish the job and completely dismantle the arsenal that has been aimed at them. They will never get another chance,” tweeted Kushner, who has been referred to as a “Trump whisperer.”

Israel has killed more than 1,000 Lebanese people in less than two weeks and 1 million have already been displaced.

Harris “underwater” in Michigan poll

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) warned donors that Kamala Harris was “underwater” in an internal state poll.

Slotkin made the comments during a virtual fundraiser with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). Stef Kight first reported the story at Axios.

“I’m not feeling my best right now about where we are on Kamala Harris in a place like Michigan,” said Slotkin. “We have her underwater in our polling.”

The poll Slotkin saw is not the first survey to suggest Democrats face an uphill battle in the important swing state.

During the Democrats primaries more than 100,000 Michigan residents voted “Uncommitted” in an effort to send Biden a message over his Gaza policy. The substitution of Harris hasn’t seemed to boost confidence among the state’s large Arab-American population.

A survey released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) last month found Green Party presidential Jill Stein leading Harris in Michigan.

FiveThirtyEight currently has Harris leading Trump by 1.9 points in Michigan. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll had Harris leading the state by a point.

It’s hard to believe the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon have improved Harris’s approval ratings.

“President Biden and Vice President Harris aren’t just ignoring Arab, Muslim, and anti-war voters in Michigan—they’re pushing them away,” Uncommitted National Movement co-founder Abbas Alawieh told Reuters. “Every hour, I get messages from my family in Lebanon, asking when the American-funded bombs will stop.”

Current Affairs editor Nathan J Robinson: “If Harris loses because of Michigan, it will be entirely self-inflicted. Like Humphrey in ’68, she is refusing to distance herself from the Democratic president’s war, thereby alienating young people who are revolted by constant pictures of dead babies.”