Minnesota’s Jews celebrate as their ‘mensch’ Gov. Tim Walz enters the national spotlight

(JTA) — On October 9, as the toll of Hamas’ attack on Israel was still being tallied, Tim Walz stood before a room of Jewish Minnesotans and condemned the invasion of two days earlier. 

“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 reevaluate where you’re at,” the governor said at the event, which was co-hosted by the local Jewish Community Relations Council.

Those words resonated with Steve Hunegs, the JCRC’s executive director. He also said they tracked with Walz’s record.

“He’s a presence and well familiar in the community, and strongly supportive of Jewish community interests and a powerful United States-Israel relationship,” Hunegs told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “We’ve had a very good working relationship with him over the years, as well as his staff.”

Since Walz was tapped as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee on Tuesday morning, Jewish conversations have been dominated by whether his selection over Josh Shapiro is a sign of antisemitism in the party. 

But Walz’s Jewish constituents in Minnesota say their governor’s elevation means the ticket will have another candidate with strong ties to the Jewish community and a lengthy track record of support for Israel. 

“It’s a good choice for those of us who care deeply about the American political scene for democracy, and it’s a good choice for those of us who care deeply about Israel,” said Morris Allen, rabbi emeritus at Beth Jacob Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in the suburbs of St. Paul-Minneapolis. 

Tim Walz praised for support of Israel

Allen said that a good relationship came through even when he and Walz were at odds, as they were over the Iran nuclear agreement nearly a decade ago. Most Democrats - including Walz, then in Congress - supported the deal, and many pro-Israel groups bitterly opposed it. 

“We may have disagreed on the Iran vote 2015 but he was straightforward and explained his decisions,” Allen said. “But he has always been a strong advocate for foreign aid for Israel, has been out front on those kinds of concerns, was a trusted vote on those issues, spoke out against hate and antisemitism, and I think is just a decent, caring human being.”

In an email follow-up, Allen added, “What I can tell you is that Tim Walz is a mensch, and his team was a pleasure to work with.” 

A former high school teacher, Walz, as governor, backed a Holocaust education mandate — a longtime priority of his. He also appointed the first Jewish member of the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 40 years and showed up at Jewish community vigils, whether after the 2019 stabbing attack in Monsey, New York, or after October 7.

“The ability of Jewish people to self-determine themselves is foundational,” he said in his remarks at the JCRC’s annual event earlier this year. “The failure to recognize the state of Israel is taking away that self-determination. So it is antisemitic.”

Carin Mrotz, the former executive director of Jewish Community Action, a progressive group in the state, said Walz stood up for Jewish priorities because his policies have made a difference across the state. 

“Look, as a Jewish Minnesotan, everything that he has worked on and championed has impacted me and my family,” said Carin Mrotz, the former executive director of Jewish Community Action. “I think things like feeding kids in schools is a Jewish issue. I think that passing historic labor laws is a Jewish issue. So I tend to think of the governor of Minnesota more in the framework of how his work has impacted all Minnesotans, and not just the Jewish community.”

In addition to the discourse over Shapiro, Walz has taken flak from Republicans for endorsing Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman who is one of the leading critics of Israel in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, Omar congratulated Walz and posted a photo to X of the two of them smiling, arm in arm. 

To Republicans, including former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who is Jewish, that relationship is an indictment of Walz. 

“By the way, his best buddy is Ilhan Omar, for my landsmen out there,” Coleman, who is now the national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told a New York talk radio show on Tuesday, using a Yiddish expression that refers to fellow Jews. “You have somebody who supports antisemites, who supports Ilhan Omar.”

But the JCRC chief said Walz’s warmth toward Omar doesn’t tarnish the governor, and that such relationships are common between Democrats in the same state. 

“The governor’s record stands for itself with respect to the Jewish community,” Hunegs said. “It’s always complex, the political matrix in these states like Minnesota. Generally in Minnesota, endorsed candidates support other endorsed candidates.”

And a local Israeli diplomat also had praise for Walz. Yinam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest, shared a photo of himself with the governor on X and thanked him for his support since October 7.

“It has been an honor to work with Governor Walz on deepening the Israel-Minnesota partnership,” Cohen wrote on X. “Thank you, @GovTimWalz, for standing with Israel during our darkest hour on October 7. The U.S.-Israel strategic alliance is strong and enduring!”

A particularly poignant moment in Walz’s relationship with the Jewish community, said Aaron Weininger, rabbi of the Conservative synagogue Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka, came a few months after Holocaust survivor Dora Zaidenweber gave powerful testimony in support of a bill mandating Holocaust and indigenous genocide education in the state. She was honored at a JCRC event in June, where Walz spoke highly of her and gave her a standing ovation. Zaidenweber died in September 2023.

“He’s a true community builder,” Weininger said. “There was Governor Walz standing and applauding Dora for her outstanding leadership.”