The addition of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the Democratic ticket is fueling optimism among critics of the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, but without alienating pro-Israel supporters.
When it comes to perhaps the party’s most complicated foreign policy issue, Walz is supported by a number of pro-Israel groups that oppose making any U.S. aid conditional on Israel, but he has also raised hopes from groups demanding that the U.S. adopt a tougher line towards Israel to end the war.
“Adding Walz to the ticket gives Harris an experienced running mate with some real anti-war credentials,” wrote Daniel Larison, a columnist for the online magazine of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“The extent to which Walz will influence Harris’s foreign policy views remains to be seen, but on many of the important foreign policy issues of the past two decades, Walz has been on the side of diplomacy rather than war.”
Walz spoke favorably about the “uncommitted” movement, the project born out of opposition to President Biden’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas.
“These people are asking for a change of direction. They’re asking for more pressure [Israel],” Walz said of the freewheeling movement in an interview with MPR News in March.
Almost 400,000 people voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary between January and March, with more than 100,000 unpledged voters in Michigan, a swing state.
In Minnesota, around 46,000 people voted without obligation during the Democratic primaries. In 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Minnesota against Donald Trump by around 43,000 votes, underlining the importance of each vote.
Elianne Farhat, senior advisor at Uncommited and executive director of Take Action Minnesota, described Walz as having a “remarkable ability to evolve as a public leader” and challenged him to take a tougher stance on Israel.
“As Harris’ pick for vice president, it is crucial that he continues this evolution by supporting an arms embargo on Israel’s war and occupation against the Palestinians in an effort to unite our party to defeat authoritarianism in the fall,” Farhat said in a communicated.
Walz is seen as having expressed more sympathy for the plight of Palestinian civilians than Biden, but has also expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself. While in Congress, Walz voted in favor of U.S. economic and military assistance to Israel and the expansion of the strategic partnership.
“In some ways, his foreign policy views have been a little more anti-war than other Democrats,” said Lama El Baz, research assistant for U.S. public opinion and foreign policy at the Washington Council on Global Affairs. Chicago.
“I think Walz’s choice definitely appeals to a younger, more pro-Palestinian audience.”
Harris chose Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was seen as a finalist for the job. Shapiro faced opposition from some on the left for his own criticism of pro-Palestinian protesters.
As a House candidate in the 2006 midterm elections, Walz won a Republican district with a campaign critical of the U.S. war in Iraq. He cited his 24-year career in the Army National Guard and the time he spent as a teacher – where he spent time abroad, in China, at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre –. How to communicate your views to defend human rights while keeping the US involved in the world.
In Congress, he voted to withdraw US troops from Iraq; sought to end US assistance to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen; and opposed unilateral attacks against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He supported the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump withdrew the US from in 2018.
“Now that she is at the top of the presidential ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris must define her own approach to the world. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s selection as his running mate could help,” wrote Mark Hannah, a senior fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs, and Rachel Rizzo, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s European Center, in an essay for Foreign Policy.
“Walz can help Harris reinvest in diplomacy and abandon America’s reflex to military interventionism to save the world.”
Walz is seen as having appeal on these issues to young voters and voters of color, two key demographic groups that helped push Biden over the finish line in 2020 in swing states, El Baz said.
“I think Harris and Walz are fighting on two fronts. There are the more centrist people, on the fence about who to vote for, for whom the party lines are a little blurred these days, and disengaged Arab-American and Muslim-American voters in these key battleground states.
While Walz appears to call for a more empathetic U.S. policy toward the Palestinians, his record in Congress — and his support as governor on other key political issues such as Ukraine and Taiwan — demonstrate a balance between withholding U.S. troop involvement and deepening engagement with countries. on the front line of aggression.
At a time when Republicans increasingly oppose sending U.S. economic and military aid to Ukraine, Walz, as governor, expressed solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and deepened economic ties between Minnesota and Ukraine.
In February, Walz signed a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation between Minnesota and Ukraine’s Chernihiv Oblast. Minnesota’s 5th District, represented by Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, is home to weapons manufacturers production who send ammunition to Ukraine.
In Taiwan, the democratic and autonomous island that China claims as its own, Walz encouraged increased trade and investment between his state and Taipei. There is generally bipartisan support for the US to express strong support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression, but Trump is increasingly taking a stance criticizing Taipei as too dependent on US security.
“When it comes to Walz, the lines are a little blurred for his anti-war and anti-intervention because he still supports sending economic and military aid, to Israel in particular, while still opposing sending troops,” El Baz said.
And while foreign policy isn’t typically a top motivator for voters, El Baz said younger voters and voters of color are increasingly focused on what America’s role in the world should be.
“We see that young Americans are less likely to say that the United States should play an active role in world affairs, which, at first glance, is a bit shocking. But when we looked at other data, we saw that they actually oppose sending troops in a wide range of circumstances, but at the same time, they support many international agreements,” she explained.
“And so I think young Americans, especially, are moving away from U.S. foreign policy, which emphasizes military engagement, and are moving toward more diplomatic engagement on an international level.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
