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Where Kamala Harris VP Pick Tim Walz Stands on Israel
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hold a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US, Aug. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s decision to tap Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her vice-presidential running mate has sent allies of Israel to search for clues about Walz’s views on the Jewish state and the Middle East more broadly.
A review of Walz’s record during his tenure in the US Congress and as a governor shows a general trend of support for Israel. Walz has issued statements supporting Israel’s right to self-defense and affirming the importance of the Jewish state’s existence. However, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee has also raised eyebrows by earning the praise of ardent anti-Israel lawmakers and criticizing the Israeli military’s ongoing campaign targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
While serving in Congress from 2007 to 2019, Walz repeatedly exhibited support for Israel. As a lawmaker he voted to condemn a 2017 United Nations resolution that proclaimed West Bank settlements to be illegal.
Walz attended a 2010 conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, in which he called the Jewish state “our truest and closest ally in the region [the Middle East], with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood.”
The Minnesota governor criticized anti-Israel protests which broke out on college campuses in the wake of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas slaughtering 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Walz defended Jewish college students and suggested that anti-Israel activists could be engaging in “intimidation.”
“I think when Jewish students are telling us they feel unsafe in that, we need to believe them, and I do believe them,” Walz said on PBS. “Creating a space where political dissent or political rallying can happen is one thing. Intimidation is another.”
Walz also ordered all state flags across Minnesota to be flown at half mast to honor the victims of the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
In June, Walz emphatically defended the importance of Israel’s existence, insisting that “the ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational … The failure to recognize the state of Israel is taking away that self-determination. So it is antisemitic.”
However, Walz’s support for the Jewish state is not absolute. The progressive policymaker has suggested that Israeli policy hampers sustainable peace in the Middle East and has also criticized Israel’s defensive military operations in the Gaza Strip targeting Hamas terrorists.
During a 2009 diplomatic tour throughout the Middle East, Walz criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank, arguing that they inflame tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
In March, the Minnesota governor called for a permanent “working ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, citing the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
That same month, during an interview with Minnesota Public Radio Walz expressed concern about the level of civilian casualties in the Palestinian enclave.
“You can hold competing things: That Israel has the right to defend itself, and the atrocities of October 7 are unacceptable, but Palestinian civilians being caught in this … has got to end,” he said.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas, which rules Gaza, has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’ widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
Harris’s selection of Walz has earned the praise of pro-Israel Democrats, including Mark Mellman, the chairman of Democratic Majority for Israel’s super PAC, who in a statement called the governor a “proud pro-Israel Democrat with a strong record of supporting the US-Israel relationship.”
However, far-left progressives fiercely critical of Israel have also applauded the selection of Walz, who has taken a conciliatory approach toward the anti-Israel protest movement. For example, Walz praised voters who cast “uncommitted” ballots in Minnesota’s presidential primary to protest US President Joe Biden’s support for Israel as being “civically engaged.”
“This issue is a humanitarian crisis; they have every right to be heard,” Walz said at the time, referring to the situation in Gaza. “These folks are asking for a change in course; they’re asking for more pressure to be put on.”
Several of the most prominent anti-Israel members in Congress celebrated the selection of Walz, although they primarily focused in their public comments on his progressive domestic policy agenda rather than his views on the Jewish state.
The post Where Kamala Harris VP Pick Tim Walz Stands on Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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French Official Tells Paper Arab Countries Will Condemn Hamas, Trying to Get Palestinian Statehood Recognized
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot speaks to the media on the day he attends the European Union Foreign Ministers council in Brussels, Belgium, July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Arab countries will for the first time condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament early next week at a United Nations ministerial event in New York, a move meant to lure more European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, France’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said the move was part of a long-planned initiative between France and Saudi Arabia.
“For the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, which will seal its definitive isolation. European countries will in turn confirm their intention to recognize the State of Palestine. Half of European countries have done so, all others are considering it,” Barrot told the JDD.
“The British Prime Minister has stated his intention to do so. Germany is considering it at a later stage. We will launch an appeal in New York for other countries to join us in order to set in motion an even more ambitious and demanding process that will culminate on September 21,” Barrot added.
On Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would formally recognize the state of Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly on September 21, drawing condemnation from the U.S. and Israel.
Earlier on Saturday Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni called it counterproductive to recognize a Palestinian state before it is established.
On Friday a German government spokesperson said there were no plans to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term.
At the upcoming United Nations event on Monday and Tuesday, France and Saudi Arabia plan to lay out a proposed post-war roadmap leading to a two-state solution covering security, reconstruction and governance, which will be compatible with the Abraham Accords negotiated by US President Trump, Barrot said.
The French minister added that in coming weeks the European Commission would take a tougher stance on Israel and demand a stop on building of any new settlement projects in the West Bank, and also an end to militarized policing of humanitarian aid distribution.
Barrot also called on fellow European countries to demand a removal of the financial blockade on the Palestinian authority so it can receive 2 billion euros he said it is owed.
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Jordan and UAE Drop Aid Into Gaza in First Airdrop in Months, Jordanian Source Says
An airplane drops humanitarian aid over Gaza as seen from northern Gaza Strip July 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons of aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in their first airdrop in months, a Jordanian official source said.
The official said the air drops were not a substitute for delivery by land.
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Trump Says Israel Will Have to Decide on Next Steps in Gaza, Pledges More Aid
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas terrorist group.
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue, and said the US would provide more aid to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
“I know what I’d do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision,” he said, while also claiming, without evidence, that Hamas members were stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, saying it had become clear that the Palestinian group did not want a deal.
Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave.
Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down,” telling reporters: “Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it’s very bad. And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.”
US TO PROVIDE MORE AID, TRUMP SAYS
Trump on Sunday said the US would provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza, where concerns are mounting about the worsening hunger, but wanted other countries to participate as well. He said he would discuss the issue with von der Leyen.
“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food, a lot of everything,” he said. “If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well.”
He said he had spoken with Netanyahu and discussed a number of issues, including Iran. He said and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would also discuss Israel when they meet at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry on Monday.
Trump also noted said the United States was not acknowledged for earlier food aid for Gaza.
“No other country gave anything,” he said, calling out European countries in particular. “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that and, you know, you have other countries not giving anything… Nobody gave but us. And nobody said, Gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.”
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