Vice Presidential Pool Reports of July 19, 2023

VP Pool Report #1 — VP Harris meeting with Israeli President Herzog

Your VP supplemental pool was brought over to the VP's ceremonial office in the EEOB shortly after 3:30 pm and waited while the Israeli pool traveling with President Herzog arrived and was escorted in.

Vice President Harris and President Herzog entered the room at 3:54 pm and moved behind a pair of identical lecterns adorned with what appeared to be vice-presidential seals, with US and Israeli flags behind them.

The VP spoke first and said it was her "great honour and joy" to welcome Mr Herzog to [her] office, to Washington, and to the US".

Ms Harris remarked that it was good to see Mr Herzog again, and recalled how the last time the two were together physically was during a November 2017 trip she took to Israel when she was the junior senator from California and he was the leader of the opposition in the Knesset.

"I'll never forget that day and the time we spent together and what we talked about in terms of our optimism and investment in the future of the world, and in that context, the importance of the strength of the relationship between the United States and Israel," she said.

Ms Harris also noted that she and Mr Herzog have spoken four time on the phone "to work on the relationship, the strength of the relationship and the enduring bond" between the US and Israel, and she reiterated President Biden's statements about the "unbreakable bond" between the two nations and the "ironclad" US commitment to Israeli security.

The Vice President announced that the US and Israel will each invest $35 million "for new food security and climate resilience initiatives" to bring "climate smart agriculture and technology to the Middle East and to the continent of Africa" for the purpose of aiding farmers with "deployment of new water efficiency technologies" and providing access to mobile apps that assist in monitoring crop conditions.

She recalled how during her recent trip to Zambia she saw how "climate smart agriculture" is assisting "in increasing innovative approaches that will extend the opportunity to address the increasing food security issue that is on that continent".

"The work that we are doing together, of course, will increase yield and crop quality while addressing the climate crisis as well. The US Israeli partnership on this issue will help make all of this work a reality for farmers across the continent of Africa and throughout the Middle East and our joint investments in the Middle East will help to strengthen the cooperation between Israel and its neighbours," she said. Ms Harris added that she and Mr Herzog would discuss "our continuing work to promote an integrated and interconnected Middle East" as well as the "highest priority" work of countering Iran and the "work we will do to ensure Israelis and Palestinians can live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy," as well as their work to "strengthen our respective democracies and democratic institutions".

Mr Herzog spoke next and told the VP it was "an honour" and "a pleasure" to be in the US to celebrate "75 years of the special relationship and friendship between our nations" as well as the 75th anniversary of Israel's independence.

He recalled how during then-Senator Harris' 2017 visit, he'd shown her around the Knesset and tweeted about how pleased he'd been to do so because of his view that Ms Harris would "get to much higher places in American politics".

"I'm so happy that I was right," he said.

At that point, the Vice President interjected and said: "I am, too," drawing laughs from the US and Israeli officials present in the room.

Mr Herzog also thanked Ms Harris' husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, for his "valiant efforts to combat antisemitism and hatred of all forms".

The Israeli leader noted that the Abraham Accords have been a "revolutionary breakthrough" which "opens the imagination and therefore calls for further cooperation in many many, many fields," and said Israel's "hand remains extended" with open hearts to "any partner in peace, near or far".

He said the $70mil partnership announced by Ms Harris represents "a new joint initiative to address a primary challenge of our time, which is the climate crisis," and remarked that he is proud of having used his office to convene the Presidential Climate Forum to bring together "stakeholders from across the spectrum, government and public servants, scientists and researchers, and entrepreneurs, investors, and civil society activist to harness their collective brainpower and creativity towards finding solutions that will benefit us all and humanity at large".

"I truly believe that climate cooperation can be a major factor in realising this vision of a renewable Middle East that supplies energy and enables nation to have food and water and ability to function under such complicated circumstances of global climate challenge," he said.

The Israeli president recalled how Ms Harris had once fundraised for the Jewish National Fund's efforts to plant trees in Israel, and called her actions "an act of love and hope for Israel" and "an act that reflected core values of connection with our environment, and the desire to harness human ingenuity to turn every challenge into an opportunity".

He added that there has "never been more at a critical, critical moment in planet earth than now," and closed with a bible story about God asking Adam not to harm or destroy the world.

"Let's work together to do well for humanity and of course, strong relations between the United States and Israel," he said.

Mr Herzog finished his remarks at 4:04 pm, at which point the leaders moved to the Vice President's balcony and the pool was escorted out.

Background information from the VP's office follows. As always, please check quotes from my Otter transcript and notes against the official White House transcript.

On background, attributed to a White House official:

Today, the Vice President will preside over the Address of President Herzog to a Joint Meeting of Congress.

In the afternoon, the Vice President will host President Herzog for a bilateral meeting at the White House.

In their remarks at the top of the meeting, the Vice President and President Herzog will announce a new joint five-year initiative whereby the Biden-Harris Administration, working with the U.S. Congress, and the State of Israel intend to invest $70 million, with up to $35 million from the United States and up to $35 million from Israel, over five years to support climate-smart agriculture through innovative technologies and improved capture, storage, use, and protection of critical water resources in the Middle East and Africa. This investment in innovative solutions for sustainable food production and water use augments existing cooperation between our two countries and will help build resilient food systems and address the climate crisis around the globe. The United States and Israel are leaders in the development of low- and high-technology climate-smart agriculture and water management, and this new joint initiative will strengthen our cooperation in these critical areas while also contributing to the foreign policy goals of both countries. This cooperation builds upon the U.S.-Israel Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Technology, leverages the expertise of American and Israeli research and academic institutions, and demonstrates the remarkable value of the U.S.-Israel relationship in facilitating investments in technology that improve the lives and livelihoods of populations across the globe. Options for impact programming will potentially include employing these technologies alongside partners, such as Negev Forum and I2U2 participants, bringing existing technologies or techniques to scale, expanding access to certain tech tools or apps, and/or investing in training, technical assistance, and education.

In their bilateral meeting, the Vice President will reaffirm our ironclad commitment to Israel's security and her determination to strengthen the bonds between our countries. We anticipate the Vice President and President Herzog will discuss a range of regional and global issues—including the climate crisis and food security, the threats posed by Iran, Israel's normalization with countries in the region, Palestinian issues including security in the West Bank, combatting antisemitism, and strengthening our democracies and democratic institutions.

Since President Herzog has taken office, the Vice President has spoken to him 4 times on the phone:January 2023, April 2022, January 2022, and August 2021.

The last time they met in person was November 2017 when the Vice President was in Israel as a U.S. Senator and Herzog was opposition leader.

On June 6, 2023, the Vice President delivered remarks at Israel's Independence Day Reception in Washington. (Remarks: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/06/07/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-israels-independence-day-reception/)