California’s leading Senate hopefuls sparred over how to approach Israel’s war in Gaza at the first debate of the campaign on Monday.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) vocally defended her calls for a “permanent ceasefire” in the region, arguing that Israel’s current military campaign would “never lead to peace” or a lasting two-state solution. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) pushed back on the notion that Israel taking out Hamas would make a two-state solution impossible, pointing out that Israel has an obligation to ensure its people’s safety.
“We have to get back to a road toward a two-state solution, but Israel has to defend itself,” Schiff said. “We can’t leave Hamas governing Gaza. They’re still holding over 100 hostages, including Americans. I don’t know how you can ask any nation to cease fire when their people are being held by a terrorist organization.”
Pointing to her vote against the war authorization to invade Afghanistan days after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Lee responded by cautioning that U.S. national security could be negatively impacted if Israel were to cause a regional crisis.
“I said then and I’m saying now: it could spiral out of control,” Lee said. “You see what’s happening. It’s escalating in the region. We have to make sure that our national security is also protected.”
“As this war escalates, as the Arab nations pull back… what we do not have is a path to Israel’s security, nor do we have a path to a Palestinian state,” the Oakland congresswoman and progressive icon added.
Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) tried to strike a middle ground when asked to weigh in, declining to say that she backs an immediate ceasefire. She instead told moderators that, “Ceasefire is not a magic word, you can’t say it and make it so. But we have to push as the United States, as a world leader, for us to get to a ceasefire and to avoid another forever war.”
Steve Garvey, the Republican former MLB star, came under fire from his Democratic opponents when he declined to say if he supports a two-state solution. The moment happened when debate moderators asked Garvey, who has recently begun polling in second place, if there was a threshold at which point he would stop supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“I feel it is all so naive to think that a two state solution can happen, even in our generation,” Garvey said. “The difficulty, even the minds that have been involved with the situation over the years, going back 75 years, know that a peace was broken, it was broken on the 7th. And it won’t be until the next generation that we’ll be able to talk about that again.”
Lee then retorted that “those that don’t believe in a two-state solution don’t believe in peace and security for Israel.”
The first debate of the campaign cycle, which took place on the University of Southern California’s campus, was cohosted by Fox LA, Politico, and USC.
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California operates with a “jungle primary” system, in which candidates from all parties compete to be one of two finalists in the general election. This year’s primary takes place on March 5. Given the state’s heavily blue tilt, there have been multiple instances in which two Democrats advanced to the general election.
Schiff has held a small but steady lead in the polls since last year and has a formidable $35 million war chest to fund an expensive campaign cycle. Porter, an impressive fundraiser herself, and Garvey, the former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, have both trailed slightly behind Schiff, while Lee has often placed in fourth.