Tim Walz's moderate Middle East views could be olive branch to voters concerned about Gaza

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, in what may be a signal that her administration would take a different tack on Gaza and the Middle East.

Mr Walz, 60, is a former teacher and a veteran of the US Army National Guard, after which he served in the US House of Representatives for 12 years before being elected governor of Minnesota in 2018.

The choice, observers said, is aimed at balancing the ticket and engaging white, rural voters – a voting bloc that has in recent years gravitated towards Republican Donald Trump.

But it is also a positive signal to voters who are eager to see a change in US foreign policy, particularly Arab and Muslim Americans frustrated over Washington's continued support for Israel and the Gaza war.

The move caps a whirlwind of developments after President Joe Biden – plagued by claims of diminished health and outrage over his handling of the Israel-Gaza war – abandoned his re-election bid and endorsed Ms Harris about two weeks ago.

“I think her administration is going to differ on Gaza from the Biden administration, I think she will like to be more tough on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in terms of really getting him to come to the table and stop his very aggressive form of foreign policy,” Alyssa Batchelor, a Democratic strategist, told The National.

“I think that she's probably going to show more public support and more sympathy for the folks in Gaza moving forward.”

The decision comes amid growing global concerns that Israel's prolonged military campaign in Gaza – which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians – will become a full-scale regional war. Iran has escalated vows of revenge this week after the killings of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and the senior leader of Hamas in Iran.

Ms Harris chose Mr Walz over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a rising star in the Democratic Party who came under intense scrutiny after he was shortlisted over his support for Israel and his aggressive stance on pro-Palestinian student demonstrations on US campuses.

The vice president holds a largely ceremonial role in the US, and if elected, Mr Walz's views are unlikely to affect White House policy on the Middle East.

Still, the decision to move away from Mr Shapiro is likely to engage progressives as well as Arab and Muslim Americans furious over Mr Biden's policies on Gaza.

“I am relieved that it was not Shapiro,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News in Dearborn, Michigan, told The National.

“We don't know very much about [Mr Walz], everything that we know about him right now is fair and good. But before we even talk to Walz, we have to talk to Kamala Harris, because we have not had a discussion.”

Choosing Mr Walz is expected to bring onside hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters who cast “uncommitted” ballots in the primaries in a nationwide show of outrage over the Biden administration's refusal to back a permanent ceasefire in Gaza or place conditions on military aid to Israel.

In Minnesota, Mr Walz's home state which has a significant Muslim-American population in Minneapolis, about 46,000 people voted uncommitted.

Instead of criticising them, Mr Walz described them as “civically engaged”.

“The situation in Gaza is intolerable,” he said in an interview last month.

“The humanitarian crisis must be brought to an end, so I think having Ms Harris at a point bringing folks together, re-centring us as a world leader in peace and holding our alliances together – I think she's got a great opportunity.”

In 2009, Mr Walz met Mr Netanyahu while on a diplomatic trip to the Middle East, and in 2010, he gave an address to AIPAC, the powerful American pro-Israel lobbying group.

Polls show that although Ms Harris has reinvigorated the Democratic Party, particularly younger and more progressive voters, she still faces a tight race against Mr Trump.

Ms Harris's announcement comes before she is set to hit the campaign trail with her new running mate this week, starting a tour of seven swing states that will begin with a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

She received her party's official nomination on Monday.