Jewish VP contender under fire for volunteering on IDF base, criticizing Palestinians while in college

Shapiro wrote the Palestinians ‘are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A potential vice presidential pick for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, is facing criticism for statements he wrote critical of Palestinians in a college paper.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who is already facing backlash from the left wing of the Democratic Party for his Israel support, is being confronted over excerpts from an essay he wrote while a student at the University of Rochester.

In the Campus Times, Shapiro wrote an essay in 1995 in which he expressed the view that Palestinians will not peacefully coexist,” because “they do not have the capabilities to establish their own homelands and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States.”

He added, “They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own,” and said the Arab world was too divided and “belligerent.”

Shapiro also discussed his role as a volunteer in Israel’s army.

After the essay came to light, Shapiro’s spokesman Manuel Bonder told Fox News Digital in a statement,”Since he wrote this piece as a 20-year-old student, Gov. Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian, and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania.”

Bonder added, “The Governor greatly values their perspectives and the experiences he has learned from over the years – and as a result, as with many issues, his views on the Middle East have evolved into the position he holds today.”

Bonder explained that as part of a school project, Shapiro worked on a farm and a fishery on an Israeli kibbutz.

He added, “The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities,” Bonder said.

Progressive groups and influencers have protested Josh Shapiro’s being shortlisted as a potential Harris VP pick and launched a “No Genocide Josh” website.

“Selecting a Vice Presidential nominee with anti-Palestinian and pro-war views will depress turnout among Muslim, Arab-American, and young voters, and greatly reduce the excitement that comes with a new nominee,” reads text on the website.

Although Shapiro has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Arab conflict, he has drawn ire from anti-Israel activists due to his statements of support for Jerusalem’s war against the Hamas terror group.