Ro Khanna urges Harris to show ‘new direction’ for Gaza war

CHICAGO — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is urging Vice President Kamala Harris to present a “new direction” for the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, arguing the current policy has not worked.

Anti-Israel protesters have marched in Chicago for much of the week during the Democratic National Convention and demanded that Democrats change their stance on the war.

Khanna, who has been a critic of Israel’s war against Hamas, told the Washington Examiner at the DNC that Harris should make a change to the United States’s policy on the war, referencing former Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s break from former President Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War.

“We need a new direction, and the vice president should articulate what that new direction will look like, and I believe that she will,” Khanna said. “Hubert Humphrey broke from Lyndon Johnson when it came to Vietnam, and the vice president has an opportunity to articulate a new direction.”

When pressed on what he believes Harris could be open to supporting, Khanna said he would leave the specifics to her but that she should pressure Hamas and also remind Israel that the U.S. will not provide a “blank check.”

“I think she needs to talk about how we’re not going to give a blank check to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], how we’re going to put more pressure on Hamas, how she’s going to actually get results that end this brutal war and to work toward a two-state solution,” Khanna said.

“I’ll leave the details of that to her, but I do think she should say that the policy so far hasn’t been working,” he added. “That’s obvious to Israelis, it’s obvious to the hostage families in Israel who want their loved ones back, and it’s obvious to people in Gaza who are suffering.”

Khanna did not attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress last month, explaining in June that he wanted to discuss how to free hostages held by Hamas and end the war rather than attend a “one-way lecture.”

Harris has largely stayed in line with President Joe Biden’s stance on the war in Gaza, but she did get ahead of him earlier this year in calling for a ceasefire. The vice president has also faced pro-Palestinian protests interrupting some campaign events. She will accept the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night when she addresses the DNC.