Former White House strategist Steve Bannon (AP/Brynn Anderson)
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon blasts “Israel First” agenda, calling Jewish conservative pundit Ben Shapiro a “cancer,” and accusing Israel of dragging the US into “endless wars.”
By World Israel News Staff
Former chief White House strategist and convicted felon Steve Bannon excoriated what he called the “Israel First” wing of the Republican party during a Turning Point event on Friday.
Addressing the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the former Trump aide said that he supported Israeli sovereignty, but staunchly opposed US involvement with the Jewish state’s military or military operations.
“The Middle East is a sideshow and Israel is a sideshow to a side show,” said Bannon. “Now, voices out there that support Israel, like Laura Loomer….are coming forward and saying…we don’t want to take any more American money, we don’t want to have any more American control.”
“We want to be able to go out and do what we want to do when the Israelis feel they have to do it, and I support that 100%. Israel needs its sovereignty, Israel needs to be independent.”
“If Israel wants to take on Syria, go for it. If Israel wants to take on Lebanon, go for it. But don’t drag the United States of America into another endless war.”
Speaking a day after The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro denounced far-right populists including not only Bannon but also Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owens, Bannon called the American Jewish conservative pundit a “cancer.”
“Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” Bannon said.
On Thursday, Shapiro blasted Bannon for accusing his critics of “loyalty to a foreign country,” saying the 72-year-old former investment banker was “maligning people he disagrees with.”
Shapiro then noted Bannon’s ties to disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“It is, indeed, par for the course from a man who was once a PR flack for Jeffrey Epstein.”
After being fired from the first Trump administration in 2017, Bannon served as a consultant for Epstein from 2017 to 2019, offering him guidance on how he should present himself publicly as details of his case drew national attention.
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