James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, told the Wall Street Journal that he spoke with Harris in October, and she appeared to show "far greater empathy" than Biden, who has been dismissive of pro-Palestinian voices.
But rhetoric doesn't equal policy change, and despite a huge swell of pro-Palestinian sentiment among the Democratic Party's voters, Harris has not made any public suggestions that she would be swayed by that sentiment.
On the other hand, Harris and those close to her have indicated that she will remain a staunch supporter of Israel.
On 24 July, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking to US Congress, Doug Emhoff, Harris' husband, spoke on a Zoom call hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) and Jewish Women for Kamala.
“Let me just make this clear: The vice president has been and will be a strong supporter of Israel as a secure democratic and Jewish state, and she will always ensure that Israel can defend itself, period. Because that’s who Kamala Harris is,” Emhoff said.
On that call was JDCA CEO Hailey Soifer, who previously served as Harris' national security advisor when the vice president was a senator in California.
She has been endorsed as the Democratic nominee for president by J Street, the liberal Zionist lobbying group that opposes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.
At the same time, she has kept relations with the Aipac, and met with Aipac leadership in 2019, at a time when the major Democratic frontrunners in the primary election chose to stay away from the pro-Israel group.
'The vice president has had an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel'
- Aide to Kamala Harris
Harris has also been backed by the Democratic Majority for Israel, another large pro-Israel lobbying group that has attacked progressive lawmakers for not supporting Israel enough.
These ties to Aipac and DMFI come as the two lobbying groups have been accused by progressives of "accelerating a right-wing shift" in Israel.
She has even been previously described as "more Aipac than J Street" in terms of her voting record on Israel. For example, in 2017 on her first foreign policy vote as a US senator, she voted to criticise former US President Barack Obama's refusal to veto a UN resolution that censured Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In 2017, she met with Israel's Netanyahu a week before 10 other Democratic senators wrote a letter demanding the Israeli leader halt the demolition of a Palestinian village in the West Bank.
