US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday delivered remarks at a reception in honor of Israel's 75th Independence Day which was hosted by the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.
“As Israel developed over the decades, the United States has been a proud and steadfast partner, as has been noted from President Harry Truman’s recognition of the State of Israel after Ben-Gurion declared independence, through Republican and Democratic administrations, and through today, under the leadership of President Joe Biden,” said Harris.
“The United States has an unbreakable bond with the State of Israel,” she continued, “a bond that I have been so very proud to work to strengthen throughout my career in public service. At the core of the US-Israel relationship is America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.”
“This commitment endures not only because it is in America’s strategic interest, but because it is the right thing to do,” stressed Harris. “And this is why I was proud to vote for unprecedented security assistance to Israel, almost $4 billion per year, every year that I served in the United States Senate, and this is why our administration continues to provide this assistance and added another $1 billion in the wake of the 2021 conflict with Hamas.”
She also made clear that the commitment of the United States to Israel’s security “will remain unwavering”.
Harris said the administration will continue to build on Israel’s peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, as well as on the historic agreement with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, also known as the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by the Trump administration, “to support Israel’s normalization with countries in the region and beyond.”
She also said that the Biden administration will continue to work towards a “two-state solution” for the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict.
The Vice President stressed the need to fight back against antisemitism “wherever and whenever we see it”, adding, “When Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism and that is unacceptable.”
Hinting at the judicial reforms being promoted by the Israeli government, Harris said, that “America will continue to stand for the values that have been the bedrock of the US-Israel relationship, which includes continuing to strengthen our democracies, which are both built on strong institutions, checks and balances, and I’ll add an independent judiciary.”