JERUSALEM, Israel – As anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests rock U.S. campuses at the start of the new school year, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz told a Michigan radio station Friday that protesters are “speaking out for the right reasons.”

During his interview with NPR Partner companies WCMU, Walz did not mention the terrorist group Hamas, which was recently responsible for the execution of six Israeli hostages, including an American, in a Gaza tunnel earlier this month. He also called for more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign a ceasefire and stop the fighting.

“I think the people who are speaking out in Michigan are doing so for the right reasons. It's a humanitarian crisis,” Walz said. “It's not acceptable as it is, and we need to find a way for people to live together in this situation.”

The Washington Free Beacon reports that University of Michigan students recently gathered for a mass die-in on campus to protest Israel's war against Hamas after the terror group murdered over 1,200 Israelis, committed countless atrocities and sexual violence, and kidnapped over 250 Israelis and foreign nationals.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic frontrunner, was hounded during the election campaign by anti-Israel protesters who believe the Biden administration has not been tough enough against the Jewish state.

Accordingly JNS News, At a rally in Detroit in August, hecklers shouted: “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we will not vote for genocide.”

Harris replied: “If you want Donald Trump to win, say so. Otherwise, I'll do the talking.”

The incident revealed Democrats' potential vulnerability on the issue, as several polls show that a majority of Americans support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas.

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said: “Joe Biden thinks the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel radical protesters 'are right.' Kamala Harris appeases them by saying they 'are demonstrating exactly what human emotion should be,' and now Tim Walz thinks they 'are speaking out for the right reasons.' What a disgrace.”

The Gaza war and the rising tide of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the United States will also likely come up in Tuesday night's debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump, the only debate currently scheduled until Election Day on Nov. 5. CBN News will continue the debate ABC News moderates the event.

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