COMPARING HARRIS AND TRUMP ON MIDDLE EAST POLICY - Brian Katulis, with Benjamin Freedman and Sydney Taylor

1 OVERVIEW • Vice President Kamala Harris entered the White House in 2021 with limited foreign policy experience, and she has • The official Republican Party Platform of 2024 doesn’t say much about foreign policy in the Middle East aside from had few opportunities to engage in foreign policy over the past four years, while serving in the Biden administration as “stand with Israel” and “restore pea. [...] She remarked that the conditions for the people of Gaza amid the war are “inhumane.” However, she also asserted that her stance on Israel’s right to self-defense remains the same, • In May 2018, Trump moved the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; and the following March, he also noting that she and President Joe Biden are “...unwavering in [their] commitment to Israel’s security.” rec. [...] • The 2024 Republican Party Platform and the Trump campaign have identified certain goals on Iran: • Preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear technology and delivery capabilities, in addition to blocking Iranian ambitions through the reinstitution and expansion of sanctions, providing security assistance to regional partners, and supporting freedom-seeking Iranians in their revolt against the mullah. [...] As vice president, she met the crown prince • The Trump administration’s top Middle East policy outcome was the 2020 signing of the Abraham Accords, and the and prime minister of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, in 2022, and has met and held calls with the pursuit of normalization deals between Israel and Arab states is one of the few Middle East initiatives the Biden president of the UAE, Sh. [...] The views in this paper are reflective only of the author’s analysis and perspective and do not the possible decline in US influence in the Middle East and around the world, the statements made by presidential necessarily represent the views of MEI.