CHICAGO — Late on Monday night, after President Joe Biden wrapped up a nearly hour-long address, Jewish Democrats gathered for an afterparty hosted by the progressive pro-Israel group Zioness at a trendy Israeli restaurant in the city. By the time Ilan Goldenberg, the Harris campaign’s new Jewish outreach director, took the stage, guests were trickling out; it was after midnight.
But it was the first public address for Goldenberg, an Israeli-born Middle East policy wonk who only started on the campaign last week. In less than 10 minutes, he laid out a case for why Jewish Democrats should support Vice President Kamala Harris in November, offering a window into the points Goldenberg will be making in phone calls and meetings with Jewish leaders over the next three months.
Speaking in front of a backdrop that said, “progressive, pro-Israel, pro-Kamala,” Goldenberg made a traditionally pro-Israel case for Harris.
“I can tell you a couple of things about her,” said Goldenberg. “One, from the very beginning, she was completely adamant that Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel was attacked on Oct. 7, and Hamas is a terrorist organization, and we’re going to be behind Israel supporting its response. And two, this is just part of a much longer record of hers that she has an unwavering commitment to Israel’s security that goes back long before Oct. 7.”
Goldenberg was Harris’ top Middle East advisor on and after Oct. 7, “which is, I think, why she wanted me here,” he said. He touted her phone calls with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in the months after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, and pointed out that she has sat in on many of President Joe Biden’s calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neatanyahu.
“Her relationship with Israel is a lot more than just about Oct. 7. It goes back 20 years. It goes back to her time in San Francisco as an attorney general,” said Goldenberg. “It goes back to her being part of the Jewish community, largely through her husband, through Doug.”
With a Jewish spouse, Harris has been “very proud to bring Jewish tradition into the vice president’s residence,” Goldenberg said, noting that Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff installed a mezuzah at the Naval Observatory and hosted holiday events such as Passover Seders and Hanukkah parties. All of this, Goldenberg argued, takes place with Harris’ urging.
“We know how much the second gentleman has been a leader on this issue and working on the national antisemitism strategy, but we know he’s doing that at her encouragement and her request, and that’s something that she very much asked him to do and take on when she came into office as the vice president,” said Goldenberg.
Gabby Deutch is the Senior National Correspondent at Jewish Insider. She was previously a contributing writer at JI and had worked on The Atlantic‘s global affairs team and at NewsGuard, a company fighting online misinformation.
