Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz said in a radio interview Thursday that anti-Israel protesters are “speaking out for all the right reasons” and that more pressure should be put on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a Palestinian state.

Asked by NPR's Michigan station WCMU how a Harris-Walz administration would separate itself from a Biden administration's handling of Israel's war on Gaza, Walz said, "We cannot allow what happened in Gaza to happen." "The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty. We need to continue to exert influence to make sure we move toward a two-state solution."

"I think we are at a critical point now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in this direction," he added.

Walz described the October 7 attack last year as a "horrific act of violence against the people of Israel" and said the Jewish state has the right to defend itself and that the United States "will always stand by that."

Walz praised the anti-Israel protesters, who have a large presence in Michigan, the state with the largest Arab population in the country.

“I think these people who are speaking out in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons,” he said. “It’s a humanitarian crisis. You can’t afford to have it like this.”

The Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war could be a critical issue on Election Day in swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, where the Democratic Party is trying to balance pro- and anti-Israel votes, a crucial factor given how close the race is between the Democratic and Republican candidates.

Anti-Israel protesters have repeatedly boycotted Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign events since US President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last July.

At a rally in Detroit last August, protesters chanted, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide.”

"If you want Donald Trump to win, say so, otherwise, I'm the one talking," Harris said in response to the anti-Israel message from the protesters, in what was seen as a response supporting Israel's war on Gaza.

At a rally in Arizona two days later, she responded to another interruption by talking about “respecting the voices” of protesters.

"Now is the time to reach a ceasefire and get the hostage deal done," Harris said.

In his interview on Thursday, Walz ended his response on Israel with a call to “find a way for people to live together.”

“Achieving a ceasefire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two-state solution is the only way forward,” he said.

“Joe Biden thinks the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel protesters have a point, and Kamala Harris calms them down by saying they are ‘showing exactly what human emotion should be,’ and now Tim Walz thinks they are ‘speaking out for all the right reasons; what an absolute disgrace,” Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a right-wing pro-settlement figure, told the Jewish News Syndicate_JNC, the most right-wing pro-settlement, anti-Palestinian website, in response to the interview.

“Let us be clear: The mobs on our streets and on our college campuses are virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel and must be absolutely condemned in the strongest possible terms,” Brooks, a known racist, added. “It is shameful and appalling that today’s top Democratic leaders cannot forcefully and directly reject their anti-Semitic base.”

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have chosen to put partisan politics ahead of the safety and security of the Jewish community and America’s key ally as it fights for its survival,” Brooks said, according to the JNC. “It is disgusting, and the American people will reject the extremism of Harris and Walz next November; it is clear that their priorities are not our priorities. Harris and Walz stand with the extremist faction, not with us.”