By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff and Republican candidate Steve Garvey proved themselves the most pro-Israel candidates of the four who debated on NBC and Telemundo television stations Tuesday evening, Feb. 20. Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee was the most pro-Palestinian, and Democratic Rep. Katie Porter occupied middle ground.
NBC’s Los Angeles political reporter Conan Nolan asked the candidates to say “yes” or “no” to the proposition that there should be “no peace in Gaza until the Hamas government is removed from the leadership position that it holds in the Gaza Strip.”
Lee, who represent Oakland, said “No, I support a ceasefire. That’s the only way to assure security for the Palestinians.”
Schiff, who represents Burbank, and Garvey, a former Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, said they would vote yes on such a question. Porter, who represents Irvine, said she would vote “no.”
Nolan then asked how the candidates would vote on imposing an immediate, unconditional ceasefire to end the war.
“Yes,” said Lee.
“No,” said Garvey, Porter and Schiff.
Asked to explain their positions, Lee said “Global peace has got to be a priority for foreign policy. .. We must put more of our investments into preventing wars, into development, diplomacy, humanitarian needs, and helping young people, especially, throughout the world understand that they have a future.”
Schiff commented: “First of all, Israel has the right to defend itself. It was horribly attacked on October 7th. I don’t see how there can be a lasting peace as long as a terrorist organization is governing Gaza and threatening to attack them over and over again, nor do I see how there can be a permanent ceasefire while that is true. Nevertheless, Israel must make every effort to avoid civilian casualties and we must make every effort to get the parties to a two-state solution. … We remain the indispensable nation in the world. We cannot abdicate that responsibility neither in the Middle East nor in Ukraine.”
Porter declared: “I think it is important to recognize that the conflict in Gaza [which] is the result of the horrific attack by Hamas is one that the parties to the conflict must determine what will be a lasting ceasefire for them. We can’t just pass resolutions and make it so. The United States must support peace. We need to recognize – some on this stage will not – we need to recognize the incredible humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza and we need to be firm and clear to Israel as our ally that we expect them to be a champion for peace and democracy. I think it is important that we live our values in this way and that we are investing in diplomacy. Donald Trump did terrible, terrible damage to our standing on the world stage, allowing Iran and Russia to grow in power and we are all paying for the consequences.”
Garvey reiterated: “As I’ve said [in past debates] I support Israel yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and I believe that all these countries [including Ukraine and Taiwan] that we support have the right to their sovereignty … We have to maintain that strength so when people look at us, we are a deterrent for China, for Russia, for Iran, anyone who feels that they can become a threat to democracy.”
The candidates also grappled with questions about inflation and the economy, military readiness, immigration reform, climate change, and artificial intelligence, among other subjects, with Porter taking many questions as a springboard to attack Schiff as beholden to special interests. Schiff countered that whereas Porter may not take contributions directly from corporations she accepts them from individual corporate executives. Lee and Garvey avoided attacks on any other candidate on the stage.
Polls have shown Schiff leading in the March 5 primary that will choose two candidates to face each other in Nov. 5 general election. Garvey, in large measure thanks to Schiff’s television commercials identifying him as his major opponent, has a lead over Porter for the second spot, with Lee trailing behind.
The debate, held in Universal City, was cosponsored by Loyola-Marymount University.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via sdheritage@cox.net