Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota’s Democratic governor Tim Walz as her vice-president for the US election.
Walz, 60, was picked over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.
Walz, a US army veteran and former teacher has been described as a moderate who is likely to appeal to working-class voters in key Midwestern states that could decide November’s election between Harris and former president Donald Trump.
He was endorsed by staunch Israel critic and Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar, who told a local paper, the Star Tribune: “I do believe that Gov. Tim Walz has all of the qualities that the vice president needs to balance out the ticket. He’s a veteran, a teachers union member and obviously somebody that would be exciting in many ways.”
The pick was praised by Yinam Cohen, Israel’s Consul General to the Midwest – based in Chicago.
But Walz’s relationship with Israel differs to Omar’s.
After Hamas launched its attack on Israel killing over a thousand and taking more than 200 hostage on October 7, Walz ordered state flags to be flown at half-mast.
He also spoke out against those who did not condemn the attacks.
Speaking at a vigil held at Congregation Beth El in Minneapolis in October Walz said:“If you did not find moral clarity on Saturday morning, and you find yourself waiting to think about what you needed to say, you need to reevaluate where you’re at.”
He called for a “working” ceasefire in March, which was softer than Harris’s own call for an “immediate” six-week ceasefire.
Harris made her call in a speech given in Selma, Alabama, days before Walz made his.
US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) shakes hands with Israeli President Isaac Herzog as they speak to the media prior to a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, July 19, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
He visited the region, taking a trip to Israel in 2009 where he also visited the West Bank and met with Israeli Prime Minister.
While it is safe to say he is a supporter of the Jewish state, he is not afraid to be critical and following a trip in 2009, he said that the increase of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was getting in the way of peace.
Speaking at the AIPAC conference in 2010 he said: "Especially now when there is a little tension in the relationship, it’s important to hear what people are thinking.
“Israel is our truest and closest ally in the region, with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood.”
When it comes to attacks on Jews he has made several supportive statements.
In 2019 on the first anniversary of the deadly attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, he said: “We are committed to confronting hate and bias crimes, and recognize that antisemitism represents a unique and millennia-old enduring hatred of Jewish people.”
He spoke out about acts of aggression towards Jewish students on American college campuses in the wake of October 7 and the war that followed.
In April he said: “I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them.”
He has also pledged support for Holocaust education and slammed republican opponents for comparing Covid to the Holocaust.
