Biden’s running-mate pick has record of speaking up for Israel

The California senator named by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate has a track record of speaking up for Israel and is married to Jewish lawyer.

Kamala Harris was confirmed for the number two spot on Tuesday and became the first woman of colour to be appointed to a presidential ticket by either of the two main American political parties.

Her husband Doughlass Emhoff could become America's first Jewish second husband.

Ms Harris has shown her pro-Israel stance by speaking twice at the the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) - most recently in 2018.

That time @KamalaHarris met her Jewish in-laws. “The first time I meet my mother-in-law, she looks at me, puts my face in her hand … she looks at me and she says, ‘Oh look at you. You’re prettier than you are on television. Mike, look at her!’” pic.twitter.com/P8qJwwzSP9
— Johnny Kunza (@johnkunza) August 11, 2020

She has argued for a two-state solution but has said: “I believe that a resolution to this conflict cannot be imposed. It must be agreed upon by the parties themselves.”

Ms Harris also co-sponsored a Senate resolution in early 2017 that rebuked the Obama administration for allowing a US Security Council resolution to pass that condemned Israel’s settlement policies.

She also is on the record opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

But she has expressed support for the Iran nucleaur deal - which she said she would rejoin.

“This nuclear deal is not perfect, but it is certainly the best existing tool we have to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and avoid a disastrous military conflict in the Middle East,” she wrote in 2018.

As attorney general in 2012 she said that anti-Jewish hate crimes were the most commonplace religion-based crime in California.

Ms Harris - daughter of a mother who immigrated from India and a father who immigrated from Jamaica - met her husband on a blind date in San Francisco, and they married in 2014.

Her sister, Maya, officiated at the wedding — and smashed a glass to honor Mr Emhoff’s upbringing. It was her first marriage and his second.

He has two children from his first marriage.

Mr Emhoff is currently a lawyer and partner at DLA Piper Law firm where he works out of both their California and DC offices with a specialty in entertainment and intellectual property law.

He has regularly posted gushing messages about his wife on Twitter.

At a White House news conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump, a Republican, described Ms Harris as "my number one draft pick".

Ms Harris will debate Mr Trump's running mate, Vice-President Mike Pence, on 7 October in Salt Lake City, Utah.