What Tim Walz VP pick Means for American Jews and Israel
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the runner-up for the position, faced backlash over his Israel positions.
By Jacob Kornbluh
(August 6, 2024 / The Forward) Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is the vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee announced Tuesday.
The decision to choose Walz is expected to bring back to the Democratic ticket hundreds of thousands of people who voted “uncommitted” in the primaries to express outrage at the Biden administration’s support of Israel in the face of ongoing attacks in Gaza after Oct. 7. The choice also avoids potential controversy over the other leading contender: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, an observant Jew whose positions on Israel and a two-state solution have resurfaced recently, along with accusations that opposition to him is antisemitic.
The announcement comes two weeks after Democratic Party leaders endorsed Harris as their standard-bearer following President Joe Biden’s unexpected withdrawal from the presidential race.
Walz, 60, was one of the final contenders for the role, along with Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.
As a former House member and a second-term governor, Walz brings moderate views that could appeal to working-class voters in key battleground states, along with executive experience that would aid Harris in governing if she wins the presidency. Walz coined the now-popular term “weird” to describe the Trump-Vance ticket.
Shapiro, a popular governor from a critical swing state with 19 electoral votes who has been mentioned as a potential first Jewish president since his 2022 gubernatorial campaign, was seen as a formidable choice for Democrats.
But a campaign by pro-Palestinian activists and progressives to keep him off the ticket because of his stance on Israel and the campus protests gained steam in recent days. It fueled accusations that antisemitism derailed his nomination. Sen. John Fetterman, an outspoken supporter of Israel and Pennsylvania’s junior senator, also reportedly expressed his concern about picking Shapiro.
What are Walz’s views on Israel and the war in Gaza?
Commentators described Walz, a “Minnesota Lutheran,” as a safe no-harm pick who could help Harris gain ground with traditionally Democratic voters who were disillusioned with Biden over his position on the war in Gaza.
While compared to Harris, Shapiro and Kelly, Walz has no direct Jewish connections, American Jews are expected to overwhelmingly vote for the Democratic nominee, as they have historically.
Progressives who cast “uncommitted” in the Democratic primaries this spring indicated they would be happier if Walz was picked. They pointed to his remarks on CNN after 19% of the Democratic electorate in the state’s presidential primary participated in the protest vote. “They are asking to be heard and that’s what they should be doing,” Walz said. “Their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more. And I think the president is hearing that.”
After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Walz ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff and criticized those who did not condemn the attack. “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,” Walz said at a vigil held at Congregation Beth El in Minneapolis.
In early March, Walz endorsed calls for a permanent “working” ceasefire, just days after Harris drew praise from the progressive base by calling for an “immediate” six-week ceasefire in a speech in Selma, Alabama.
Walz, a retired Army officer, visited Israel and the occupied West Bank in 2009 on a diplomatic tour to the Middle East, during which he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar Assad. He said he told the Israelis he believed that the growing number of Jewish settlements in the West Bank were hampering the prospects for peace.
Walz spoke at the annual AIPAC policy conference in 2010 amid tension between the Israeli government and the Obama administration over the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem. “Especially now when there is a little tension in the relationship, it’s important to hear what people are thinking,” he said, according to MinnPost. “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.” He was also endorsed by J Street for reelection.
Walz voted with his party in favor of aid to Israel and supported the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Earlier this year, he faced protests over his state’s pension funds investments in Israel bonds.
Walz’s approach to antisemitism
“We are committed to confronting hate and bias crimes, and recognize that antisemitism represents a unique and millennia-old enduring hatred of Jewish people,” Walz said in a 2019 proclamation marking the first anniversary of the deadly attack at the Tree of Life synagogue, which killed 11 worshippers in the deadliest act of antisemitism in the nation’s history.
In April, Walz condemned the hostility toward Jewish students at the pro-Palestinian campus protests. “I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” he said on a local PBS program.
Speaking at an annual event by Minnesota’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Walz called for strengthening Holocaust education and ethnic studies in his state’s school system.
During his reelection campaign, Walz decried his Republican opponent, Scott Jensen, comparing COVID-19 policies to the Holocaust. Walz called on Jensen to apologize for the “hurtful and dangerous” comments.
How are Jewish politicians and leaders reacting?
“Not only is Governor Walz an accomplished and beloved leader in the state of Minnesota, having been elected six times to the House of Representatives and twice to the governorship, but he is also a proud pro-Israel Democrat with a strong record of supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Mark Mellman, chair of the PAC affiliation with the group Democratic Majority for Israel, in a statement.
“We know the Harris-Walz team will stand up for our shared values, protect our community, and pursue smart, pro-Israel, pro-peace leadership abroad. We’re all in,” said the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street, which has endorsed Walz in the past, in a statement.
The right-wing Zionist Organization of America, meanwhile, raised concerns about Walz’s past expressions of support for Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, among Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress.
This article was originally published in The Forward and can be viewed here.
*Note: Truth is not a political position. ZOA is rational centrist or right-leaning. ZOA is not “right-wing.” J Street is a radical left-wing hostile-to-Israel lobby, not merely “liberal.”