Kamala Harris builds Middle East policy team for 2024 campaign

Democratic nominee appoints Nasrina Bargzie and Ilan Goldenberg as advisers as Israel-Gaza war continues

US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wayne, Michigan. Reuters

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has been forming her Middle East policy team through a string of appointments this month, as the US Vice President's electoral campaign picks up amid the potential political liability of the Israel-Gaza war.

The campaign added Egyptian-American lawyer Brenda Abdelall to focus on outreach to Arab-American voters in battleground states, Reuters said on Wednesday, citing two sources.

Afghan-American lawyer Nasrina Bargzie was hired to join Ms Harris's campaign to lead contact with Muslim and Arab-American communities, NBC News reported.

And Israeli-American peace negotiator Ilan Goldenberg was named as a liaison to the Jewish community for the campaign, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Jewish Insider reported.

The Harris campaign did not immediately return The National's requests for comment on the appointments.

After inheriting the campaign from President Joe Biden in July, Ms Harris has faced challenges from pro-Palestinian protesters and rights advocates over current US policy on Israel and Gaza.

Since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, the Biden administration has faced criticism over its backing of Israel amid concerns over human rights breaches in the Gaza Strip.

Ms Harris was interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters at two political campaign rallies last week. She responded once by shutting them down and later by directly addressing them.

“The President and I are working around the clock every day to get that ceasefire deal done and bring the hostages home,” she said.

Ms Harris's national security adviser in the Vice President's office, Phil Gordon, recently said in a post on X that "she does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law."

Ms Bargzie and Mr Goldenberg have worked under Ms Harris on Middle East policy and other issues in her office.

Ms Bargzie was accepted into the US Refugee Resettlement programme when she was a child in Pakistan, where she had fled with her family from Afghanistan.

As a lawyer, she has worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco. Ms Bargzie has also been a clerk for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

She not only advises Ms Harris on issues in Muslim and Arab relations but also on voting and democracy.

Ms Abdelall is a former Department of Homeland Security official who worked as a senior counsellor to the secretary.

She joined the federal agency as a chief of staff for its civil rights office shortly after Mr Biden took office in January 2021. She also has experience in areas including national security and battling gender-based violence.

Ms Abdelall's government biography page said that she taught at New York University Abu Dhabi and the University of Michigan Law School. It also says she served as director of the Muslim Advocates non-profit organisation.

Mr Goldenberg worked as a special adviser on the Middle East and Iran in the Defence Department under the Obama administration.

He was also chief of staff for Martin Indyk, former special envoy on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, who died last month.

Most recently, he served the secretary of defence on the Coalition to Defeat ISIS before joining Ms Harris's team as a special adviser on the Middle East and defence and technology matters.

Mr Goldenberg, who began on the National Security Council at the White House, has been critical of Israel in the past and is a strong supporter of the two-state solution.

The White House and Mr Biden's former campaign tried to connect with the Muslim and Arab-American communities who had expressed anger over Israel's actions in the occupied Palestinian territories and the US response to the war, but many said they would not support the President's re-election bid.

Some Democrats have gathered around an “uncommitted” voter movement to express anger over the failure to secure a ceasefire, using their votes to put pressure on prioritising Gaza.

There have been hopes that Ms Harris will change the US stance on Israel, but she appears to be sticking with the Biden administration's policy of support for Israel and a two-state solution.

She has consistently said that Israel has a right to self-defence and that the US will continue its security assistance, while also demanding Israel take responsibility to prevent civilian deaths and suffering.

Ms Harris has also insisted that hostages held by militant groups in Gaza be released.