Who is Tim Walz, Kamala Harris's running mate?

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, choosing a plain speaker from America's heartland over a more charismatic Josh Shapiro.

Walz seems to be a safe pick for the Democrats, who want to attract the hundreds of thousands of Americans angry over Israel's war on Gaza and who voted “uncommitted” in the primaries. At the same time, he has not openly criticised Israel despite the deadly war in Gaza where the Israeli military has killed nearly 40,000 people, most of them women and children.

Considering Walz's often conflicting stance on a wide range of issues, it is difficult to label him "anti" or "pro." Like a seasoned diplomat, he adheres to everything and yet nothing.

In 2001, when the US president, President George W. Bush, in an address to a joint session of Congress, said, "Either you are with us, or them", Tim Walz might have whispered ... 'I am with you, them, none and all!'

He has supported Israel throughout his career while advocating for more aid to the Palestinians and more recently called for a ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state solution.

Walz, 60, a former educator and retired Army officer, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar al Assad in 2009.

In Congress, he has voted to allocate foreign aid, including to Israel, and to back the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was reviled by Israel and its fiercest allies but supported by most Democrats in Congress.

'The Walz twist'

Walz helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including generous aid to families.

Walz ordered Minnesota’s flags to be flown at half-mast after October 7 in support of Tel Aviv and denounced the attack in a meeting with members of the Minnesota Jewish community.

Like his other political views, Walz appeared to back Pro-Palestinian student protestors at the US campuses, but at the same time, he worried about the safety of Jewish students.

In 2006 and 2007, Walz campaigned against the war in Iraq and went on to vote for the withdrawal of US forces but like always he came up with his own twist as he broke rank with most Democrats in voting for supplemental funding for Iraq.