US presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s pronouncements and choice of Tim Walz as her candidate for vice-president have encouraged hope in the Middle East for change in US policy on the region, which has long been dominated by Washington’s ironclad commitment to Israel.
Democratic Party candidate Harris last month addressed the plight of the Palestinians by saying, “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to [their] suffering. And I will not be silent.”
In that context, her selection of Minnesota governor Walz rather than his high-profile Pennsylvanian counterpart Josh Shapiro is seen as significant. Shapiro has castigated divestment from Israel and condemned students protesting against Israel’s Gaza war; as a youth he volunteered on an Israeli army base.
Arab-American Institute president James Zogby told the online news site the Intercept that Harris had made it clear that if she won the US election in November, she was not going to follow President Joe Biden’s policy “even though she can’t break from her boss”.
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“[W]e have every indication that she is going to turn a corner, and [Walz] does not impede that corner turn – Shapiro on the other hand would have become an issue,” he said.
While serving in Congress from 2007 to 2019, Walz adopted mainstream Democratic Party policies by supporting Israel. Soon after entering Congress, he voted for US troop withdrawal from Iraq. In 2009, he visited Israel, where he met prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Syria, where he met President Bashar al-Assad.
In 2013, Walz opposed US military strikes on Syria after the government killed hundreds of people in a chemical weapons attack. Walz called for repeal of the 2001 congressional authorisation allowing the president to bypass Congress and conduct attacks and military operations outside the US. He backed the 2015 agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions.
As Minnesota governor, he has enacted progressive policies benefitting the residents of the state and faced down criticism from pro-Israeli activists by defending Minnesota congresswoman Ilham Omar, who adopted anassertive pro-Palestinian stance.
[ US election: Kamala Harris selects Tim Walz as vice-presidential pickOpens in new window ]
In March, Walz demonstrated political independence when 40,000 Democratic Party primary voters boycotted Biden due to his unstinting support for Israel’s Gaza war. Walz said these voters “are deeply concerned as we all are. The situation in Gaza is intolerable”, and called for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and a “lasting two-state solution”.
He also condemned the Hamas attack on Israel of October 7th and sharply criticised those who failed to do so, saying in the immediate aftermath: “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 re-evaluate where you’re at.”
Democratic strategist Alyssa Batchelor told the Abu Dhabi daily, the National, that she thought a Harris administration would differ on Gaza from the Biden administration [and would] be more tough” on Netanyahu by “getting him to come to the table and stop his very aggressive form of foreign policy”, while showing more support for Gaza.
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