Minnesota Jewish leaders highlight VP pick Tim Walz's commitment to community, Israel

The "small but mighty" largely liberal Minnesota Jewish community started their work day on Tuesday morning with the highly anticipated news of Vice President Kamala Harris selecting their governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate over runner-up Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. 

With Shapiro, as the second Jewish Vice Presidential nominee in history, came antisemitic attacks over his support of Israel. 

Ethan Roberts, Deputy Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, told The Jerusalem Post that his organization was disturbed by the unfair negativity directed at Gov. Shapiro, who holds the same positions on Israel and antisemitism as Walz. 

"I've never met Gov. Shapiro, but I know Gov. Walz," Roberts said. "And it was clear to us that all of this negativity at Gov. Shapiro was that he was the wrong kind of Jew, and we condemn that as being antisemitic."

Though Roberts said Walz is excellent, bringing to the table six years as governor, 12 years in Congress, 24 years of the National Guard and experience as a teacher. 

"I'd like to believe that Governor Walz was selected because of all of the things that he brings to the table, and not because the far left were given a veto over Gov. Shapiro," Roberts said. 

Roberts added he thinks it's important for people who don't know a lot about Walz to understand that all of the options that were before Harris, including Walz, were pro-Israel options. 

"If anyone thinks that somehow, because Governor Walz was selected and not Governor Shapiro, they got the candidate of the far left or the squad, they didn't," Roberts said.  "Absolutely not."

According to Roberts, people were looking at the fact Shapiro was Jewish and the positions he was taking, which he called unacceptable. 

"What [JCRC] was trying to say is that Walz has the same position," Roberts added. "If it's about the positions, you should be against all of them."

Beth Kieffer Leonard is a board member of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and is heavily involved in the Minneapolis Jewish community, previously serving as president and campaign chair for the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and serving on The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors since 2008. 

JDCA was quick to endorse Walz after the announcement of his selection broke Tuesday morning. 

To Jewish voters across Pennsylvania and beyond who were hoping for Shapiro as the pick, Kieffer Leonard said Democrats want to win, and that's what the focus should be on. 

Walz has an understanding of rural and urban America, two important things Kieffer Leonard said have been missing from the Democratic Party. 

"If people understand what's at stake in this election, it will be obvious that everything that Gov. Walz has done to date is about bringing people together and providing them with opportunities, both as individuals or in whatever group you align with," Kieffer Leonard said. 

She added Democrats have to find the winning ticket and all get behind it, keeping the bigger picture in focus. 

Walz's Record

"Being a proud Minnesotan, it's hard not to have a dog in the hunt with Gov. Walz, who I've been a supporter of for a very long time, including when he was in Congress, and have been proud to be a Minnesotan with him at the helm of our state."

As an educator, he advocated tremendously Holocaust education, and then as a governor, he mandated legislation requiring Minnesota schools to teach the Holocaust, Kieffer Leonard said to The Post. 

From his days as an educator through Congress and to the Governor's mansion, Kieffer Leonard said Walz has been "steadfast in his support of Israel" and even more so since October 7, as he's maintained that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas. 

In Congress, Kieffer Leonard said Walz voted in favor of aid to Israel at every option he had, including voting to provide for Israel's air defense system, and wanting to expand the strategic partnership between US and Israel. 

Locally, Kieffer Leonard said Walz has repeatedly condemned acts of antisemitism around the country and reaffirmed Minnesota's solidarity with its Jewish friends and neighbors. 

Steve Hunegs, executive director of the JCRC, told The Post that Walz has been a "stalwart friend of the Jewish community, the JCRC, and a strong supporter of a robust US-Israel relationship."

Hunegs noted three JCRC events within the past year or so where Walz showed his support for the Jewish community, starting with the JCRC's 2023 annual event which honored Holocaust survivor Dora Zaidenweber, whose testimony before the Minnesota House of Representatives helped lead to the mandate of Holocaust education across the state. 

Walz then attended JCRC's vigil on October 9, speaking with "great eloquence" about the need to defend the US-Israel relationship, according to Hunegs, who said Waltz's line at the vigil about the need for moral clarity in that moment really resonated with people. 

Walz also ordered the flags at the Capitol at half-mast after October 7. 

"So in that way, he's been front and center with the community, there at our side," Hunegs said. "Certainly expressing some of the most important principles with respect to the Jewish community, and Israel and antisemitism."

Hunegs highlighted Walz for being the first governor in Minnesota's history to appoint a Jewish member to the state's Court of Appeals, who later became the senior judge. 

He also praised Walz for repeatedly opposing BDS resolutions or petitions calling for the Minnesota State Board of Investment to divest directly or indirectly the state's pension holdings from Israel. 

Hunegs described Walz as a man with Midwestern roots who is also deeply conversed in international relations, understanding that Minnesota and the broader Midwest do not live in isolation. 

If the Harris-Walz ticket wins the White House, Hunegs said he expects Walz to approach Israel policy by "expressing himself in a powerful way about the importance of the relationship between the US and Israel."