Meet Tim Walz, Harris’ VP: Progressive favorite with mainstream views on Israel, Iran

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate in the presidential race on Tuesday. Walz served in Congress for over a decade before becoming governor of Minnesota and held mainstream Democratic positions on the Middle East during his time on Capitol Hill, including support for Israel, favoring US withdrawal from Iraq and backing the Iran nuclear deal.

Walz, 60, has been governor of the Midwestern state since 2019. He previously served in the House of Representatives, from 2007 until he left to begin his gubernatorial tenure. Before entering politics, Walz was a teacher and served in the Army National Guard.

Walz served throughout the United States while in the military and deployed to Italy after the Sept. 11 attacks in support of the war in Afghanistan and broader US operations against al-Qaeda, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

Israel and Palestine

Walz has expressed support for Israel throughout his career, while also advocating for more aid to the Palestinians and more recently for a cease-fire in Gaza and a two-state solution. In an April interview with the local PBS affiliate, Walz described both Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the situation in Gaza as “intolerable.”

“A two-state solution and a workable solution has to be there,” he told Twin Cities PBS. “The United States needs to continue to push for that and we need to make sure that humanitarian aid is getting there.”

Walz called for a cease-fire in Gaza in a March interview with Minnesota Public Radio.

“I certainly call for a cease-fire. It has to be a working cease-fire,” he said. “I've asked for these humanitarian pauses to get folks out. … I want this thing to end; I don't want a cease-fire to last for a week or something like that. We need a permanent solution.”

Walz ordered Minnesota’s flags to be flown at half-mast after Oct. 7 and denounced the attack in a meeting with members of the state’s Jewish community.

“What was evident on Saturday morning was the absolute lack of humanity, the terrorism and the barbarism,” he told attendees at the Beth El Synagogue on Oct. 10, according to the local news site TC Jewfolk.

Walz praised US President Joe Biden for his October trip to Israel and efforts to secure more aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas, and Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people,” said Walz in a post on X upon Biden’s return. “We cannot let terrorists like Hamas win.”

The governor traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2009 and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in 2010.

Walz voted to allocate foreign aid to Israel during his time in Congress, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

As governor, Walz has expressed concerns about pro-Palestinian protests at US universities. In the same interview with Twin Cities PBS, he said students “need to be able to express opinions,” but added that Jewish students must be able to feel safe.

“When Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe, we need to believe them and I do believe them,” he said.

Walz has demonstrated empathy with pro-Palestinian voters in the Democratic Party. In the March interview with Minnesota Public Radio, he praised Minnesotans who voted “uncommitted” as “civically engaged.” Some Democratic voters wrote “uncommitted” on their ballots in the Democratic Party presidential primary in opposition to Biden’s support for Israel.

“People are frustrated, but it bodes well for me that they’re actively engaged to go out and cast his vote and ask for change,” he said.

Iraq

Walz campaigned on an anti-Iraq War platform in 2006, and voted in 2007 to withdraw US forces from the country within 90 days. Despite his opposition to the war, he broke rank with most Democrats in voting for supplemental war funding in 2007, National Public Radio reported.

Walz expressed caution about the timeline for a withdrawal at the time.

“My fear is if the pullback of troops was either delayed or sped up based on politics, that that’s dangerous,” he said in 2007, according to NBC.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling longtime ruler Saddam Hussein. US forces remained in the country until 2011 and then returned in 2014 to help fight the Islamic State.

Syria

Walz voiced opposition to US President Barack Obama’s consideration of US military strikes on Syria in 2013.

“While I believe the use of chemical weapons is despicable and the world must take action to ensure that cruel dictators are not allowed to use such weapons without repercussions, at this time I cannot in good conscience support current proposals to take unilateral military action,” he said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

The Obama administration was considering strikes against Assad’s forces over their alleged use of chemical weapons against rebel groups. The administration ultimately did not attack Syria, although the United States was backing the rebels at the time.

Walz’s 2009 trip to the region included a visit to Syria, where he met President Bashar al-Assad. Walz and Assad discussed Obama’s engagement with Syria and foreign fighters entering Iraq through the country, the local news outlet MinnPost reported that year.

Iran

Walz supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying it provided the “best chance we have had in years to halt the Iranian nuclear program.”

“It dismantles the progress they have made and opens up the country to strict inspections. Should Iran violate the terms of the agreement, we reserve the right to reimpose the kind of strict economic sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place,” said Walz in a statement, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

Walz added that the United States retains “our right to defend ourselves from Iranian aggression” at the time.

The agreement removed some sanctions on Iran in exchange for scaling back its nuclear program. US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, calling it “one-sided,” and reimposed sanctions. Since then, Tehran has accelerated its nuclear program.