Vice President Kamala Harris privately met with a small group of Jewish leaders prior to her rally on Sunday night in Philadelphia in which she was “clear and convincing” about her work with President Biden in defending Israel and protecting Israel from terrorists, PA Democratic State Rep. Jared Solomon told The Post on Wednesday.
Sunday’s meeting was the first time Solomon met Harris in person.
“When you talk to someone, you get to feel their emotional connection to the issue,” Solomon said. “Obviously, she’s married to someone who’s Jewish, but it’s much beyond that. She has a deep-seated understanding of the issues and appreciation of how important it is to the Jewish community.”
Also in the meeting were Montgomery County Democrats Chair Jason Salus; former PA Rep. Allyson Schwartz; Rabbi David Straus, chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia; attorney David Maser and investor Lee Rosenberg.
Solomon said some questions were asked about Harris’s stance on Israel.
“It was good to hear it from her,” he said, describing how excited he and the other leaders felt after the meeting.
“We were excited to spread the good word to our friends and neighbors about the strong relationship that the Vice President has and is going to continue to have when she’s president,” Solomon said. “It’s one thing to read about it, to see it on TV, to hear it in radio ads, to see it on social media. It’s another thing to actually be able to look someone in the eye and really communicate what’s in their heart. That was really special.”
Jill Zipin, founder and chair of Democratic Jewish Outreach PA, also participated in the pre-rally meeting with Harris.
On the Jewish Democratic Council of America’s final call to Jewish voters held Wednesday evening, Zipin also said Harris empathized with the anxieties of the Jewish community.
Two important lessons
“One of the things [Harris] said when she began our conversation, when a black woman gives birth, she looks at that baby and wonders if they will ever really be safe in this world. And then she said she knows Jewish mothers feel the same way with respect to antisemitism and their children,” Zipin said.
Harris told the Jewish leaders that her mother taught her two important things, according to Zipin.
One was how to cook, and the other was to care about people who were different than she was.
“She also said, ‘I will never ask you to vote for me because my husband is Jewish. I ask that you vote for me because I care about the Jewish community, the Jewish people and the safety and security of Israel,'” Zipin said.
Harris also told the leaders her campaign would win PA and that she “never makes a promise she can’t keep.”
